Those Who Fought
by Cossacks250
Summary: Follow the stories of four Humans and two Covenant soldiers during, after and even before the war between Mankind and the Covenant began. Some OC's.
1. Matthew's story: Prologue

_**Greetings readers of Fanfic.**_

_**If you have read the three Halo/Wall.E Fanfics I began working on just over a year ago, then you will know about Eve's part in the war against the Covenant. However, if you have read the end of 'The Ark' story and read the 'Those who fought and Battle of Reach trailer' Fanfic, then you will know that I have planned to put up two more stories about other taskforce members, soldiers and such of the UNSC marines and also two on Covenant soldiers. **_

_**Firstly, as in the trailer, we will start off with taskforce member Matthew. Enjoy! **_

**Location: Reach task force barracks**

**Date: April 10****th****, 2552**

The reach task force barracks was a large rectangular shaped room with bunk beds going down both sides of the room. At the end of the room on the left side was a single bed where a young woman about 6ft 4 tall, blue eyes and shoulder length white hair was sleeping. Her name was Eve. She was the leader of a special taskforce, whose members were scattered around the room, mostly in groups but there were a few on their own.

On one bunk bed near the entrance to the barracks was a young tall soldier with black hair, green eyes and was dressed in a red bodysuit. His name was Matthew. He was about twenty five years old and had been put into this taskforce about a month earlier by a UNSC officer. In his hand was a small letter which he was writing to his mother. He would send it off later, but right now he seemed to be in a trance, just staring at it as if he were mentally reading it to himself.

He sighed after a few moments and folded up the letter and put it in his chest pocket. Before coming here, he had been a soldier of the UNSC, and he had been friends with a squad of marines. He had fought alongside them against the enemy Mankind was fighting at the moment.

That enemy was the Covenant, a coalition of alien races, made up of Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Drones, Hunters, Brutes and led by three Prophets, who were determined to destroy humanity, and they had truly lived up to their goal in the past year. Already, almost all of the planets in the Niobe Aino system had been destroyed and mankind was virtually on the brink of being thrown back onto the defensive in their own solar system.

This planet, this taskforce. They were pretty much the only thing that was standing between the Covenant and the home system of mankind, and their home world, and what Matthew knew that was scaring him was that he was going on a mission to board a Covenant ship. Not that he was scared of fighting the Covenant, he had been in battle against them before, but never had he taken on a ship. It was practically suicidal, and the chances of him surviving were quite slim.

"No, Marcus, stop," a woman's voice said.

Matthew looked up and saw a young woman in a green bodysuit with brown hair and brown eyes stopping a heavily built soldier who looked about twenty five as well with black hair and blue eyes. He had a small scar on the side of his head from where a blast from a Covenant plasma rifle had struck him.

Matthew felt suspicious about this taskforce member. He and a group of others had been going out early and coming back late at night. He had the soldier what he and the group he was with had been up to but he told him he could not tell him. Matthew had barely any better luck by asking sergeant John, who told him they had doing a type of training for the upcoming mission.

Matthew sighed again and looked down at the floor. Constantly over the past few weeks he had been remembering everything that had happened in his past in his service in the UNSC. It had all affected him, right from the start to when he had to finally leave his comrades to join the taskforce.

Bringing his legs onto his bed and closing his eyes, he began to go reminisce those years being in the UNSC.

_**Author note**_

_**I would just like to note that 'Battle of Reach' will be up in a few days' time. **_


	2. The accident

_**Date: August 29**__**th**__**, 2550**_

_**Location: Dukartu military base, Ventura Island, Eucia, Niobe Aino system**_

Ventura Island was about twenty miles long and just under half in width. It was mountainous in the centre and had Hawaiian-like palm trees scattered around the mountainous centre and bordered some of the most amazing beaches on the planet. The island was akin to that of Hawaii back on Earth, so much so it was actually nicknamed 'Aino's Hawaiian island' a few years back and it quickly became a tourist hotspot. However, two years ago the hotel business went bust and since then it had been used by the UNSC military.

The Dukartu military base was about four miles long and two miles in width. The main building in the base was the HQ building that had a main rectangular section about one hundred and twenty feet long with two large cube shaped sections at each end. Both were about sixty feet high and twenty feet wide. Between them were two missile launcher turrets to protect the building. Behind the HQ building were four half cylindrical dark green coloured buildings. These were the barracks for the men in the base. Coming out of each end of the barracks buildings, the ends furthest from the HQ building, were small corridor buildings that connected to a longer corridor building, which had another corridor building coming out of It's left side about half-way down the building. This corridor building led to a large square shaped building about twenty feet high and separated into two floors, ground and first, with windows along It's walls. The rest of the base was made up with airfield building and landing strips, several vehicle bays for military vehicles such as warthogs, scorpion tanks and mongooses and a hospital. There was also an ammunition building near the left side of the base.

However, what was really important about the base was that it had a large testing area, about 400m long and 200m wide, where there was a large warehouse-like building to the right if the testing area. Next door to was the Weapons Producing and Storage Facility, which was also a large warehouse-like building but with a large cube shaped section on the left end of the building. Here new weapons that had been tested were to be produced en masse. One such weapon was the Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifle, or W/AV M6 G/GNR for short. Though, some soldiers that had already tested the weapon had given it the name, the Spartan Laser, mainly because the weapon was actually a laser but also because it was made out of very hard material. The weapon had been popular amongst the UNSC marines as soon as it first became usable by the military. Work on the laser had started about fifteen years ago on Reach and up until last year, tests and such were used to try and harness the power of the laser and then find a material strong enough to stand It's power and heat and prevent it from destroying itself when it fired. Last year, they finally managed to make a strong enough material called Titan, which was made up of titanium, gold, copper and had a small amount of Dorvask, to withstand the laser. All the hard work, though, had paid off. It's power was devastating. Apparently, when it was first used by the UNSC marines, the soldier testing it fired the laser at an old scorpion tank and blew off the main section, breaking the enormous vehicle in two. Since then, the news of this weapon's devastating power had spread like wildfire among the UNSC.

Today, the base's commanders had organized a training session for the marines here. Groups of about six each were to test the laser on old vehicles. Already, two groups had gone by. The third group was just about to try it out.

Emerging from the Weapons Producing and Storage Facility building was the third group. Among them was a tall soldier with black hair, green eyes and was about six foot four. His name was Matthew. He was about twenty three years old and was from Rodum on Takra. In his hand was the enormous Spartan Laser. It was a lot bigger than he had imagined, and heavier. So much so that it was noticeable for him to stagger a little as he walked with the weapon.

_Typical _he thought. _They tell you It's a great weapon but they don't tell you it weighs like a ton. _

"Hey Matt," one of the soldier in the group behind him called. He looked over his shoulder to face him. "Hurry up with testing that thing, I want to try it out soon,"

"No way, Evans," another soldier replied. "I'm next for trying that bad boy out."

"In your dreams,"

"Ah can it you guys!" another soldier piped up, silencing them. "To settle this, I'm gonna try it next. End of, okay?"

The other two soldiers groaned and nodded, obviously displeased about losing their chance of going next to test the weapon after Matthew. Well, they could argue about it after the soldier after Matthew was done.

Matthew knelt down on one knee and placed the Spartan Laser on his shoulder, aiming it down the testing area towards the end. The other five members of the group stopped about fifty feet from him and spread out in a line to watch. The seconds ticked by for Matthew as he impatiently waited for the target he was to destroy to reveal itself.

"C'mon!" he growled under his breath. "Where are you?"

Finally, as if obeying his wish, the warehouse door rose up and the target revealed itself.

The target was a tank with a cube main section with four sections for tank treads coming out of it, two on the front and two on the back. The main cannon section was also a cube shape but with a curved top. One large main cannon stuck out of the front of the main cannon section and between the two tank tread sections at the back of the vehicle was a large cube shaped section of the tank where the engine for the vehicle was concealed. This tank was the _Tyrant II_, designed by Japanese and American designers Kenji Tanaka and Andy Harrison in the 2460's and was first made in 2468. It's armour was about 16.4cm thick and, despite the armour, it had a top speed of about 60mph and could have a crew ranging from 2 to 6. For seventy years, this tank was the most powerful in the UNSC until It's counterpart the M808B battle tank arrived in service in 2538, having proven to be much faster, had much more firepower and the engine was concealed within the tank, whereas it was the opposite on the _Tyrant_, where if the engine was destroyed, it could no longer move and therefore made it a sitting duck.

Matthew raised the laser slightly so the barrel of the weapon was aiming directly at the tank, which had come to a halt and had turned so the main cannon was facing him as if he was the target in this practice area. He licked his lip and concentration took over his body. He had to hit the tank and he would prove himself to be worthy in using this weapon.

Pushing down the laser's trigger, a loud charging sound filled the air as a red line in a small meter on the side of the laser moved from one end to the other. It was charging up. A few seconds passed before a beep sounded from the laser. It was ready to fire. Matthew made a last minute check to make sure the laser was aimed at the tank and he released the trigger.

A blinding red flash filled the air for a millisecond before fading, followed about the same time later by a huge explosion. Matthew, who had closed his eyes in reaction to the blinding light, opened them just in time to see the top of the tank exploded like a volcano. By the looks of it, his laser had struck the centre and caused an enormous outburst of energy in all directions. The two tank tracks at the front flew off and crashed loudly into the ground about sixty feet from the tank. Meanwhile, the tracks at the back of the vehicle exploded in a ball of fire. Cracks of electricity erupted from the engine, followed by a final explosion as the engine blew up.

After a few seconds, the noise settled down. Wide eyed with shock and amazement, Matthew and his friends stared at the ruined vehicle. The main section had been completely obliterated; the two back tank tracks were all bent and broken as if they had been smashed by a giant hammer and the main cannon was charcoal black and bent and crooked, even split open about half-way down it. The cube section on the back of the tank had several holes across it caused by the explosion and there were several volts of electricity crackling up from the wreckage. Wow! That laser was powerful.

"Well done, soldier!" a voice said from behind.

Matthew looked over his shoulder to see a man dressed in a smart looking tuxedo-like suit standing about one hundred feet away on the edge of the target practice area. He had combed blonde hair and brown eyes and he looked to be in his early thirties. Next to him was a UNSC officer who was dressed in an officer uniform and he looked to be about forty five. Pinned to his chest were several medals, which made it obvious he was a high ranking commander at this base.

"Well done, soldier!" the officer repeated. "Amazing, never seen a takedown like that with the laser before,"

"Yes, very good," the man in the suit next to the officer replied in a voice that sounded as if he could not care less whether Matthew had scored a good hit with the Spartan Laser.

Matthew just shook his head and looked back at the destroyed _Tyrant_, which was now surrounded by a group of workers, some of who were in worker warthogs, who were putting out the fires or moving pieces of the destroyed tank to clear the practice area ready for the next target practice with the Spartan Laser.

"Right, next!" the officer's voice barked loudly.

"I'm next!" another voice exclaimed all of a sudden.

"Not so fast!"

Matthew looked behind him to see one soldier in his group of friends grab and pull back another who had tried running over towards him. That soldier had been the first one in the group who had wanted to go next on testing the laser after Matthew. The soldier who was holding him back was the second soldier who had also wanted to go next after Matthew. Right now, they were desperately trying to push the other one back or throw him to the floor so they could run over to Matthew first before the other did.

"Guys, knock it off!" Matthew growled, clenching his fists. He hated it when his friends argued but before he could shout at them again, he realised there was a loud charging sound emanating from the laser.

"MATTHEW, WATCH IT!" another of the soldiers yelled at him, ending the struggle between the other two soldiers in the group.

Matthew saw his fist clenched over the trigger and quickly realised what he was doing but before he could stop himself…

BOOM! Another blinding red flash had filled the air, followed by an explosion. When the light had faded, Matthew, along with the soldiers and the two men standing on the side of the training area, looked down towards the _Tyrant's _ruins. However, this time there was a new addition to the pile of wreckage.

Lying there on the ground broken in two was one of the worker warthogs. The ends of the two sides of the vehicle that had been joined together were burnt charcoal black and there was even a small trail of smoke rising up from one of them. A few workers were lying on the ground, some unconscious whilst others were yelling out and clutching their arms or legs or sides, having been peppered with bits of the vehicle when it exploded or suffered bad burns from the laser when it hurt. Thankfully, the burns were not that bad.

Matthew swore under his breath. Oh no! He was so dead.

"YOU IDIOT!"

The next thing he knew, someone grabbed him by the back of the neck and yanked him to his feet, causing him to drop the laser onto the ground. It was the officer, who was now red faced and looked very dangerous. He began marching Matthew, still holding him by the back of neck, which he was clutching tightly as if trying to crush it, towards the HQ building.

It was obvious Matthew was in for a big punishment. Hopefully, it would be too bad.


	3. Punishment

The office in the base's HQ building was small and square with plain grey walls. A small window on the right wall of the room overlooked the barracks'. A desk with a chair behind it stood on the floor about five feet from the window and scattered about on top of it was a data pad and a several papers on recent events at the base. A large holo-light hovered just below the ceiling and a plant was in the bottom right corner of the room. The door into the room was wooden oak with the holographic words _officer Hensley_ hovering above it.

_BANG!_

The officer door flew open and the officer dragged Matthew into the room and pushed into a chair, almost knocking it and him over.

"Sit down, Matthew!" Hensley growled as he slammed his door shut and walked past him.

Matthew obeyed and sat down, shaking slightly, waiting for the punishment to fall upon him. His scared eyes never left Hensley, who sat in the chair behind the desk and took several deep breaths to calm down. When he was done, he looked up at Matthew, who gulped in fear.

"You really are an idiot, Matthew," Hensley said. "You almost killed five workers."

"Sir, it wasn't my fault!" Matthew replied. "It was an accident,"

"Yeah, an accident that almost made us lose five people!" Hensley replied, his voiced beginning to rise but he realised and stopped himself from getting angry again. "Look, son, I know it was an accident, but you losing concentration and telling your friends to stop arguing whilst you had your finger on the trigger of our newest weapon. The UNSC High Command'll want answers for this and they'll want to see some punishment."

"How d'you know they'll want answers this quickly?" Matthew asked Hensley. Then, a realisation thought hit him. "You mean… I-it wasn't…" he stammered.

"Yeah, that man was a UNSC High Command officer," Hensley replied, nodding. "There isn't any doubt he'll report this incident as soon as he returns to Takra." Hensley sighed. "I'm sorry; Matthew, but the High Command'll want answers and they'll want to see punishment. I mean, you being distracted with your fingers on the trigger of a very deadly weapon, you could be facing at least two years in military prison. I'm sorry, but I have to take action,"

Matthew sighed and rubbed his hand down the front of his face in frustration. It was not fair. I mean, his friends had distracted him and now he was going to have to face punishment for something that was not entirely his fault. Hopefully, it would not be too bad.

Hensley picked up the data pad and typed away at it for a few moments with Matthew watching. He was reporting the incident and sending it to the UNSC High Command's Events wing. There, someone was going to decide whether he would be thrown in prison or not. Hopefully, he would not.

When Hensley was done typing away on the data pad, he set it down on the desk and looked up at Matthew.

"Your being assigned to the Recruitment and Training Centre in the Kora region." He told him.

At these words, Matthew groaned and buried his face in his hands for a second before looking up at Hensley. Oh great! If he was going there, it could only mean one thing.

"I'm sorry, son, but It's either this or prison and I think I know you wouldn't want to spend the next two years in jail," Hensley told him.

Matthew nodded in agreement. Even though this was a bad punishment, he could at least be thankful he was not being thrown in jail. Hopefully this would not be as bad as it sounded.

"A pelican is leaving for Kora in a few moments," Hensley told him as he typed something into his data pad again. "Go and board it,"

"Yes, sir," Matthew replied lowly and with that he stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.


	4. An old friend

Matthew emerged from the HQ building, filled with frustration and anger. This was not fair! I mean, okay sure he should have ignored his arguing friends but it was not fair for the UNSC here to blame him for a complete accident. But at least he could still be thankful that he was not going to be thrown in jail, but this punishment might have been just as bad.

The Recruitment and Training Centre was where new recruits signed up and were to be trained. If he was going there, then that is what his punishment was: to train new recruits.

_Oh this can't get any worse _Matthew thought as he walked towards the pelican that was parked.

"Well, well, well," a voice said behind him.

Matthew knew that voice very well and groaned. Looks like he had spoken too soon and turning, he saw a group of men in heavily armoured uniforms standing by the side of the building, one of them propped up by his elbow. Oh great! It was a group of four ODST's, and what was worse was that it was a group being led by Dylan, a twenty one year old heavily built soldier who had been an American football player in his school. The muscles from the hobby of his past stood out clearly in his sleeves. He had brown hair, blue eyes and he, according to several women who Matthew had heard talking about him in the past, he was a good looking man. They had never really liked each other. In fact, Dylan used to pick on Matthew, as did his group of mates, all of who were American football players in their school when they were younger.

"What do you want Dylan?" Matthew grumbled.

"Well, we've just heard about what happened in the testing area a few minutes ago," Dylan replied, moving away from the building and stepping towards Matthew. He was about six foot four, the same height as Matthew, but his more heavy build did make him quite intimidating but Matthew kept his cool. "Heard that you almost fried a couple of workers using the laser," he laughed a little. "Just like in High School, you couldn't even kick a football straight."

"Well, at least I wasn't an idiot like you, Dylan," Matthew replied.

Dylan glared at him and began quickening his pace towards Matthew, stopping a few feet from him.

"So where you going then, Matty boy?" he asked him.

"None of your business,"

"What'ssmatter. Scared?" Dylan taunted, making him and his friends laugh.

"Get lost,"

Dylan smirked a little and looked past Matthew at the pelican. "Maybe I should go ask the pilot where ya' goin'. It'd be fun to find out,"

"Corporal Dylan!" a voice barked, making them jump.

Officer Hensley had emerged from the building and had been heading towards the hospital building, but had been stopped by the scene in front of him.

"Yes, sir?" Dylan inquired, sounding a little less brave and tough now.

"Get back to your barracks, Matthew here has to go somewhere and you're holding him up!" Hensley barked. "Go on, scram! That's an order!"

By the look on Dylan's face, Dylan looked like he wanted to say something to Hensley, but because he was an ODST and Hensley was an officer, he could into really bug trouble.

"Yes, sir," he replied, giving Matthew a glare before walking back towards the barracks. His friends followed him.

"You better be off, Matthew," Hensley said to him in a voice that sounded as if he wanted him to leave.

Matthew nodded and walked back in the direction of the pelican. When he reached it, he climbed into the resting area and sat down on one of the seats. He sighed and rested his head against the wall of the pelican. This was not fair! This was a bad predicament he had been landed in. What was worse, Dylan and his group of ODST's were onto him. If they found out what he was doing, he would never be able to liv with the torture of them picking on him about it.

"Hey Matthew,"

Matthew looked up at the seats to the right of the pelican's cog pit. His face lit up. It was a young woman of about twenty with blue eyes, shoulder length brown hair had a very pretty face.

"Emily!" Matthew exclaimed.

She got up and walked over and sat down next to him and embraced him.

"How are you?" she asked as she released him.

"Fine," he replied. "What about you?"

"I'm fine. So where are you headed?"

"Kora Recruitment and Training Centre," Matthew replied lowly.

"What's wrong?"

Matthew sighed. Emily was a good friend to him. They had known each other since they were young and they had shared everything with each other. They had lost contact with each other when about three years ago when they both took up separate jobs in the UNSC, but reunited about a year ago and they had been getting closer. In fact, Matthew was in love with her. She did not know that and he did not have the courage to admit it to her.

"Well," he began after a few seconds. "I suppose you heard about what happened in the testing area earlier on,"

"Oh," Emily replied, realising what he meant. "And I take it this is your punishment,"

Matthew nodded. "Yeah, and I'm not looking forward to it,"

Emily smirked a bit and Matthew smiled at her. He loved it when she laughed. It sounded really cute and beautiful.

_Just like her _he thought heavenly as he looked out through the rear entrance to see the island of Ventura slowly shrink as the pelican got further away from it and the two began to talk again.


	5. Meeting the recruits

**Later that day**

**Kora region, Eucia. **

For Matthew, the journey on the pelican ended too quickly. He and Emily had talked for most of the journey until they stopped at Sura city where Emily had to get off. He had given her a hug goodbye before the pelican lifted back up into the sky and flew on towards the Kora Recruitment and Training Centre. Afterwards, he sunk back into sorrow, knowing that he was going to still have to face his punishment when he got there.

_If only this wasn't to come _Matthew had thought shortly after the pelican left Sura city.

Half an hour had passed since they had dropped off Emily and the pelican was now flying over the grassland of the northern areas of the Kora region. Scattered about where a few wind turbine and solar farms as well as cattle farms. Far off in the distance, about ten miles away, were the buildings of the Recruitment and Training Centre.

The co-pilot of the pelican opened the door of the cog pit and stuck his head out, looking at Matthew, who was sitting on one of the end seats of the craft's entrance room, looking out over the passing landscape below.

"We'll be landing at the Recruitment Centre in a couple of minutes," the co-pilot said to Matthew, who replied with a nod as he turned to look at the co-pilot, who closed the door of the cog pit.

Matthew sighed and resumed to looking back out at the landscape passing below. It was something really happy at seeing the nature of Humanity's home world here on an extra-terrestrial planet, and yet this damn punishment was hanging over him like a cloud. It was not a good thing at all. He had done nothing wrong, but the High Command did not see it that way. In fact, he had even thought at one point after being told by officer Hensley back at Ventura that the UNSC High Command would want to see punishment from the accident that occurred earlier on today. It was not fair! It was not fair at all, but…there was nothing he could do about it. He would just have to accept it and hope it was not going to be as bad as he thought.

A few moments later, the landscape below began to change into roads and more buildings were gradually beginning to appear. Finally, after about another minute, the pelican was above the Kora Recruitment and Training Centre.

Despite being a centre, it was nearly as big as a normal base, obviously apart from the fact that it did not have as large training areas as the regular army bases, or buildings filled with the newest weapons for the UNSC military. The centre was about one mile wide and about one and a half in length. It had a main HQ building like an army base where recruits would enter on their first day of training, a number of barracks buildings, two hangers with landing strips, three vehicle bays and a hospital and an ammunition dump. Near one of the landing strips were several large square metallic platforms with the words LZ on them.

Matthew sighed as he looked down at the base. He could see a few figures moving about on the ground about the buildings, mainly new recruits and officers. Well, this was where he was going to have to serve his punishment; having to train new recruits. There was nothing worse for a regular soldier to do. Matthew thought this was stupid. This was not the job for a regular soldier! This was a job for a training officer!

The cog pit door opened again. "Hang on back there, buddy," came the co-pilot's voice again.

Matthew moved a few seats up the resting area and sat with his back against the wall as he felt the pelican descend towards one of the square platforms. After a few seconds, the craft jolted as the landing gear unfolded themselves and the craft touched down on the platform. Matthew got up and walked to the end of the resting area and jumped down the ten foot gap from the ship to the platform's surface and walked down a small flight of stairs to the ground.

"Good to see you've arrived, son," an officer standing nearby said to him, making him jump.

"Huh…oh, thank you, sir," Matthew replied.

The officer nodded. "Follow me,"

He walked over towards the main HQ building, which was just like the one at the military base on Ventura, only it was not as big. A few soldiers were walking about, some on their own; others in groups. A loud whoosh from behind made Matthew turn his head to see a long sword fighter take off from one of the landing strips. It took off from the ground tipping a little from side to side, making it clear that a new recruit who was flying it. Matthew laughed a little as he watched the craft bank left.

_Well, I hope he doesn't crash that thing _he mentally said to himself.

Matthew and the officer walked through the building's main entrance into a large hall where several officers and recruits were scattered about. Nearby, a group of about four young men, all around about eighteen or nineteen, were standing, having been told to wait by the officer leading Matthew. They all had their rifles either in their hands or slung over their shoulders. One of them, a young man of about nineteen with blonde hair and green eyes, saw him and muttered something to the others, who quickly readied themselves as if they were trying to look like the perfect soldiers.

Matthew groaned. These new recruits were going to be more trouble than they were worth.

"Good day, men," the officer said.

"Sir," the blonde haired soldier replied, giving a salute. The other three followed his example.

"Right, you four will be led through your training by Matthew here," the officer told them before turning to him. "Take 'em to their barracks and get 'em started on their training," he whispered to Matthew before walking through an open door on the wall behind the group, leaving the four with Matthew.

"Um, hello, sir," the blonde haired boy said, giving a salute. "My name is Lee."

Matthew nodded uninterestingly. "Hello," he replied in a tone just as equal. "And you guys?" he asked, looking at the other three.

"Samuel, sir," the second man, a red haired and blue eyed soldier who looked to be about nineteen as well, said, giving a salute.

"Tommy, sir," the third man, a black haired blue eyed man of about eighteen said, also giving a salute.

"Edward, sir," the fourth man, also a black haired but green eyed man who was about nineteen, said who, like the three before him, gave a salute.

Matthew nodded. "Right, follow me," he said.

He turned and walked back towards the main entrance to the door. The four men followed him, all looking a bit nervous as if they were being led somewhere they had not been to before. When they came outside, they followed Matthew around the buildings and walked towards the barracks'

"What are doing first, sir?" Edward asked Matthew.

"Just dropping your things off in the barracks and then we'll start your training," Matthew answered. "And don't call me sir," he added.

The four men exchanged nervous glances. By the looks of it, they had thought they were left with a trainer who did not want to train them but had no choice. It also looked like they were going to be in for a bad time.

Well, they would just have to hope his spirits lifted soon, but with Matthew being here on punishment, that looked like it was not going to happen.


	6. Advice

**Five days later**

If Matthew thought being the leader of the recruits was bad enough, then training them was a hundred times worse. It had turned out that these new recruits had had very little knowledge of the UNSC training, which made this punishment Matthew was serving a lot worse, and by a lot, I mean _a lot_! In fact, when training began, Matthew had thought it would be simple, but he was wrong.

Not long after the four had begun their training, things were already going bad. Firstly, Lee was finding it hard trying to keep up with the others and during target training using blanks he had panicked and ended up hitting Edward, Samuel and Tommy as well as himself. Then, during a pretend operation to free hostages, Tommy and Samuel had had no communication with the others and Matthew telling them to go charging in with guns blazing had gotten them stunned, or 'killed' in the terms of the training, by the turrets guarding the hostages. And to only wrap up the day and make the day's training end even badly, the five had all been in a passenger warthog and had crashed it during a driving exercise around a training course. Thankfully, none of the five were injured but they had been very humiliated and the crash had been the talk of those at the base since then, and all that was only on the first day.

The following days had been just as bad, if not worse. On the second day, Matthew had tried teaching them how to fly a pelican and that had resulted in them almost crashing it into the fields outside the base. The third day, they were trying to learn how to get themselves out of a fire fight if they were to ever be surrounded and lack of teamwork and communication had gotten them all 'killed'. The four had argued later that day and Matthew had only just stopped them from fighting each other. The fourth day and yesterday, they had doubted working with each other would happen again and the humiliation they had been receiving from those in the base had only fuelled their anger and distrust towards each other.

For Matthew it was a very bad time, and if it continued this way, not only would he be thrown in prison, which was his substitute punishment if the training of the marines failed, but he would definitely be getting the blame of causing a group of marines to hate each other.

It just looked like his life was going from bad to worse.

Today, Matthew was in one of the barracks' buildings, lying down on a bed that had been given to him. He had his hands behind his head which was resting on them, lost in thought. He was thinking of how all of this had come. It seemed like it had all been directed at him when he knew what had happened back on Ventura was an accident. He was also thinking of Emily, which made him smile. He really liked her. He saw her as a really good friend, someone who was caring and nice and…well, and someone he knew very well. If only he could be with her, right now if he could.

Looking around, the barracks room was the same shape as the building, and it was deserted, apart from him. The four men were being given a weapons tour, which he had a feeling they would screw up knowing them.

"Hey, Matt, How's it goin'?" a voice said.

Matthew looked right towards the barracks entrance and smiled when he saw a familiar face. It was a soldier who looked to be about twenty four with black hair and blue eyes. He had his left arm, up to the elbow, in a thick looking covering that looked to be plastic but was actually a light type of metal.

"Harry!" Matthew exclaimed, getting up and shaking his friend's other hand. "Good to see ya', man,"

"You too," Harry replied.

The two walked back over to Matthew's bed and sat down.

"What happened to your arm?" Matthew asked him.

"Oh, I was working on a warthog and the turret came off all of a sudden and fell onto my arm," Harry explained. "Luckily, it didn't crush my bone or even break it in half. Doctor said it would take a while to heal though,"

"Oh well. At least you've still got it," Matthew replied, laughing a little. "You still working on the _Terminator_?"

"Yeah, she's being fitted with new lasers so the crew have got a few days off. I need it to rest my arm. So how's things been with you,"

"Oh," at his point, Matthew's face lost much of It's happiness. "Well, a lot, and It's not been good,"

"Why, what happened?"

"Well, me and my group, you remember my group, right? Well, I was testing the new Spartan Laser on Ventura island and my friends got into an argument over who was to go next and I got annoyed but in doing so, I clenched my fist whilst it was on the trigger and, well, with it aimed at the remains of the tank I destroyed and with workers around it, you can guess what happened,"

"Did you get into trouble?"

"Well, it was accident and officer Hensley knew it as well, but it was just my luck that when this happened, a UNSC High Command Inspection officer was here and of course they won't give a damn whether I'm innocent or not, so out of either being thrown in jail or training a squad…"

"…And you chose the squad," Harry finished the sentence.

Matthew nodded. "Well, How's it been?" Harry asked.

"Terrible," Matthew answered. "There's four of them and their not good at all. They've screwed up a lot over the past five days and humiliated themselves and even argued with each other," he sighed. "I'm actually starting to think that this was a worse decision than going to jail. I just…" he paused and sighed again. "I just don't know how to do it,"

"Of course you do, Matt," Harry said, resting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Look, you'll find a way how to train them. You just need to train them at their strengths and make them work as a team. I mean, I went through the same thing when I was in training. I didn't like my team and I really didn't like working with them, but I learned that I had to and it paid off. We all became friends and we got through training. You should try it. Teach them to work together and trust me, It'll work,"

Matthew took in what Harry had told him. Wow! Maybe he was right. If he did train them in their strengths and got them working as a team, then maybe it would work in getting them through this, and also get him out of his punishment.

"Well, thanks, Harry," he said to his friend.

"It's alright," Harry replied. "Well, I better be going. See you later,"

"Yeah, see you,"

Matthew watched his friend leave and was lost in thought about the advice he had given him. It actually did sound a bit ridiculous but…it could work. Yes. It might help him. Of course, he just wanted to get out of this punishment and he could not wait to leave when it was done, and this advice may just help him get through this training of recruits.

_I hope it works though _he mentally said to himself. _Or those guys'll never be able to work together, or even get into the UNSC. _


	7. Improvement at the warthog track

**The next day**

A bright and sunny day had dawned for the planet of Eucia. The star Niobe Aino shone brightly in the sky, revealing the beauty and greatness that beheld this world. Even though Eucia had been terra-formed before being colonized, it still felt as if Humanity had come onto this world exactly how it was. It was beautiful. Some called it a 'Second Earth', mainly because it did not have as much industry or was not really that high in UNSC military concentration. In fact, even though it had a few orbital space platforms in space above the planet, there was only about 100,000 UNSC personal altogether in this part of the Niobe Aino system and about two tenths of those were only here because either for a holiday or because they had duties to carry out here, but that was something the 750 million people of Eucia enjoyed. With not a lot of military presence, it was easier for them to not be surrounded by restricted areas or having to put up with military drills or ships constantly.

Yes, this world was a paradise, and many people wanted to come here, but other planets like Takra and Lupo and Umeda stopped them. Well, at least that meant more for the people already on Eucia.

However, today, it was busy, especially for one man and the team of recruits he was leading at the Kora region's warthog driving centre.

The driving centre was a large square track filled with a large square shaped building that was where the warthogs were kept. The track was covered with trenches as much as fifty feet deep, some with either destroyed wooden or metallic bridges over them, or even with nothing at all, rocky ground, pits and, which was most feared, mines, though they were not real mines but those on the track for the first time did not know that and their very presence was made to feel like those driving the warthog(s) were actually going through a real minefield, and, just like in a real one, they had to be careful. One wrong move with the vehicle and they would all be blown sky high.

Also, scattered throughout the track were several hidden holographic activators where hidden. When a vehicle passed near these, which their motion detectors would pick up, they activated a holographic soldier armed with a gun that would fire blank bullets, but they could still cause some harm but nothing further than a few bruises, at the warthog(s) and It's occupants. These were just as scary as the mines because, unlike the mines, they did not stay in the same place. They were moved every day and it was enough to make anyone nervous, let alone jump if a holographic figure would suddenly pop up out of the ground or from behind an obstacle and start firing at you.

"No, no, no! Edward, you're doing it all wrong,"

"Shut up, Tommy. You're not doing anything. You're not concentrating on the targets."

"Excuse me! You're too busy staring out the window at nothing!"

"Will you guys knock it off!"

Matthew was pretty much annoyed already by the four already today. It had been hard enough trying to get them to get into their warthog, which was a passenger one, together but as soon as they had begun, it had been Hell. Both Edward and Tommy were right about each other. Edward did not like being in the front passenger seat looking out for targets and Tommy was not a very good marksman with his machine gun. Lee, who was driving, and Samuel, who was in the back passenger seats with Matthew and Tommy, were no better. The two had argued over who was to drive, Samuel claiming that Lee was a bad driver, which Matthew knew was true, and Lee claiming that Samuel never called for help from the track's 'support assets', which were smaller and blank replicas of those in the UNSC military, and that would leave them vulnerable when they needed help.

Lee, who only just managed to get the warthog around a tight corner without turning the vehicle over, drove onwards at a faster speed then needed.

"Lee, slow down!" Matthew shouted at him. "You don't need to go this fast!"

"Sorry, sir," Lee replied, slowing down a little as they approached a rocky part of the track.

Suddenly, four human soldiers shot up from behind a nearby rock on the side of the track and open fired on the warthog. One of the bullets struck Tommy in the arm, making him yell out in pain, and he swung his machine gun round too fast, almost hitting Matthew in the side of the head, and fired at the figures. However, his aiming was not very good and he missed all of the figures.

"See! I told you can't concentrate on the targets, you idiot!" Edward said to Tommy.

"Why don't you shut up before I knock your head off It's shoulders!"

"SHUT UP!" Matthew yelled all of a sudden, making the four jump. "Lee, stop the warthog!" he shouted.

Lee did so, bringing the warthog to an abrupt halt. The figures disappeared instantly and Matthew got of the warthog.

"All of you, out of the warthog!" he ordered.

The four did so and lined up in front of Matthew, all of them had nervous looks on their faces.

"Okay, now you guys need to stop arguing and start working together!" he told them. "I'm trying to prepare you for life in the UNSC but you four not co-operating and communicating with each other is not going to let that happen,"

"It's him!" Edward piped up, pointing to Tommy. "He wasn't concentrating on the targets,"

"No, It's him!" Tommy replied, pointing back at Edward. "He's not keeping an eye out for danger!"

"But that's your job as well!" Samuel butt in.

"Shut up, Samuel! Don't try and sound perfect, you're not doing a good job either!"

"Are you asking for a punch?" Samuel stood closer to Tommy, clenching his fists.

"Try it and I'll break your neck!" Tommy replied.

Whilst they were threatening to fight each other, Lee and Edward were arguing over each other being lousy in the front of the warthog. At this point Matthew had really had enough.

"SHUT UP!" he yelled louder than ever, silencing, and even scaring, the four once more. He took several breaths to calm down. When he did, he began to talk again: "Look, I know you guys are finding it hard getting along with each other, but you will need to in order to make it into the UNSC, otherwise you'll get kicked out and believe me on that!"

The four looked at each other, still with angry looks on their faces, but they knew he was right, but it was hard trying to work together that was not working.

"Okay," Matthew continued. "Tommy, you said on the first day of training that you were a good driver and that you passed your driving test on the first time, right?"

"R-r-right?" Tommy replied, nodding a little.

"Right, you're on the steering wheel. Go on," Matthew ordered and Tommy climbed into the warthog's driver's seat. Matthew turned to Edward.

"Edward, you said to me that you used to hunt when you were younger and that you won first prize in your town's shooting range competition, right?"

"Yes, sir,"

"Right, you're on the back with the machine gun," Edward nodded and took the machine gun from Tommy and climbed onto the back passenger seats of the warthog. Matthew turned to Lee.

"Lee, you told me you used to do work with radios when you were younger and that you know military frequencies and such quite well?"

Lee nodded.

"Then get into the back passenger with Edward and keep that radio at the ready," Matthew ordered, to which Lee nodded and climbed into the back and was handed the radio by Tommy. Matthew then turned to Samuel.

"You got good eye sight haven't you? 20/20 vision?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Samuel replied.

"Then you're in the front, and make sure you keep an eye out," Matthew ordered to which Samuel nodded and walked around the warthog and climbed into the front passenger seat of the warthog.

"Right, there we go," Matthew said, as if he were someone who was admiring his work. "Now let's get along with each other," he added in a tone that sounded as if he was serious in making sure they got along with each other. "And trust me, we'll get this done and you guys'll get along much better," he walked to the back of the warthog and climbed in. "Right, now let's see if this works. Tommy, drive on,"

Tommy pushed his foot down on the warthog's accelerator and drove on down the rocky track, though a bit slower than when Lee was driving. The other three were beginning to find their new duties Matthew had set to them a bit better than before. Edward kept his finger on the trigger of the machine gun as he looked all around what was behind the warthog. Samuel was also keeping an eye out for anything at the front of the vehicle.

Then, Samuel saw something about fifty feet ahead of the warthog. It was a rock, but behind it was what caught his eye. It was circular and metallic. As the warthog got closer, it looked like…a Holographic Obstacle Activator, and by the looks of it, a blue haze was slowly beginning to form above it. 

"Edward, keep your eyes out on what's ahead," Samuel warned him.

Edward looked ahead of the warthog just in time to see the blue haze grow large enough to be visible and beginning to take form. He aimed his weapon at the haze, keeping his finger on the trigger, his vigilance level at It's height.

"Get ready to speed up, Tommy," Matthew whispered to which Tommy nodded at.

Suddenly, the haze changed, in the blink of an eye, into a human soldier and aimed It's weapon at the warthog. At once, Edward opened fire on the figure. The bullets tore into the figure and it fell to the floor, disappearing into a blue haze once more. Tommy then sped up, driving towards the right turning.

The warthog turned right and passed down a straight road without any incident. However, as it turned left into another straight track, which was a flat path, the five in the warthog caught sight of two very easily visible and recognizable shaped lying on the ground about one hundred feet ahead of them. Holographic Obstacle Activators, each one as big as a UNSC mongoose vehicle, which meant that they were activators for holographic vehicle obstacles. Then, they saw something else that sent chills down their spines. Smaller objects were on the ground behind the activators. Mines. Though they were not real ones, if the warthog drove over even one of them then it would be sent flying into the air and result in a painful conclusion to today's training.

"Get ready," Samuel said. "Lee, keep that radio ready. Show us if you are good at using 'em,"

"Believe me, I am," he replied.

Tommy drove down the path towards the activators. Edward, who had resumed looking at what was behind the warthog, turned again and aimed his machine gun ahead of the warthog, signalling they were ready. Matthew was surprised at this. Wow! This change in what they were doing was paying off. They really were beginning to work as a team.

Suddenly, when the warthog was about thirty feet from the activators two large vehicles appeared over them, looking as if they had shot up out of them. Warthogs, and what was worse they were ones with machine guns, and to make it even more worse, they were manned!

"Tommy, reverse!" Samuel exclaimed.

Tommy did not need telling twice. He reversed the warthog as fast as he could, which was a bad thing because the holographic vehicle's motion detectors picked up the movement and the turrets aimed at them and open fired. The blank bullets bounced off the vehicle's armour and Edward returned fire, hitting the left holographic warthog but doing no damage to it. By the looks of it, they would need to take out the soldiers on the turrets if they were to get past them.

"How the Hell are we gonna get past them?" Samuel grunted as Edward fired a burst of ammo from his machine gun at the warthog ducked to avoid a blank bullet hitting him in the head.

Matthew leaned forward in the warthog towards him "Who in this warthog has a radio?" he asked.

Samuel's face lit up with realisation. "Lee! Use those skills of yours on the warthogs,"

"Now you'll see how good I am," he replied and he said something into the radio.

The next thing the squad knew, a boom sounded from somewhere near the start of the track and a small missile, about half the length of the warthog, flew towards the two holographic warthogs. BOOM! The two holographic warthogs disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust, followed by a few smaller explosions as the make shift mines detonated. Seeing that the threat was eliminated, Tommy drove down the path, passing through the dust cloud. They had almost made it. The training was almost over...

"TOMMY, WATCH OUT!" 

Ahead of them was one of the broken metal bridges over a trench that was about thirty feet deep. The gap between the two bridges was about twenty feet, not far but still big enough for the warthog to fall down into.

Without thinking, Tommy slammed his foot down on the accelerator, causing the warthog to shoot forward towards the destroyed metallic bridge.

"HANG ON!" Tommy yelled.

Then, the warthog drove up the bridge and, for a moment, was flying through the air. The men braced themselves for a hard landing as it passed over the other section of the destroyed bridge.

CRASH! The warthog landed half-way tipped over to It's right with a loud crash, smashing the front headlight and putting a dent in the side of the vehicle, before going back upright onto It's wheels. Shaken, Tommy drove the warthog forward down the path to the end of the track.

When it stopped, the five climbed out of the vehicle.

"That was crazy," Lee said.

"I thought we were gonna land on our sides," Tommy replied.

"Well, we made it," Matthew told them. "You see? When you guys work together and work things out, you can accomplish anything."

Samuel nodded. "He's right." He said. "I mean, we were too busy arguing and we didn't want to work with each other, but…now I see we have to and…I was glad I did," he turned to Lee. "Sorry about what I said to you, Lee," he said, holding up his hand.

"You too, Sam," Lee replied, shaking his hand.

"I'm sorry for being mean to you, Tommy," Edward said to him, also holding up his hand.

"I'm sorry for telling you to shut up," he replied, shaking Edward's hand.

Matthew smiled. They had finally decided to work and co-operate together. It was good, and it was the first step in getting through his punishment.

It looked like things were finally starting to look up for them.


	8. Problems from old times

**One week later**

**Date: September 11****th****, 2550**

Since the recruits' training at the warthog track a week ago, Matthew had believed everything had taken a turn for the better. They were willing to work together more than they had done before and they were not arguing as much. In fact, they all seemed to be getting to be good friends. However, they were still receiving a bit of negativity from the other soldiers at the base but not as much as before. Matthew was proud, of the four of course but still mainly because managing to get them to work together could mean that he could get out of this base soon, and he could not wait to leave.

Today, however, he had a day off from the recruits. They were being taught on how to pilot pelicans and long sword aircraft by another sergeant so he was free for most of the day, or though he was until one of the generals at the base asked him to help unload a shipment of ammunition from Kurar's industry factories. He was annoyed at first, but then thought maybe it was best because even though he was free of the recruits for much of the day, it would quite boring as this was only a recruitment and training centre, not a real army base.

In the ammunition dump building, which was a large square building, Matthew was offloading boxes labelled _Ammunition _from a supply truck parked outside behind the building into a large storage room, which was also a large square shape. The room had several shelves along the walls and in the middle of the room with holo-blocks on them. Each one contained a box with a different kind of ammunition. Some had bullets, others had rockets or grenades. He had to make sure he did not get them mixed up, or, as the general who asked him to do this job, said to him: _'They'll be Hell to pay' _

Matthew entered the storage room, carrying a large box with grenades in his hands, and turned left and walked down the gap, which was only just big enough for him, between two shelves, stopping about half way down it in front of them and turning to the one on his right, where there was an empty holo-block. Placing the box under one arm, he typed in a code on the control panel on the shelf row below the holo-block. The front of the block faded away until it disappeared. Matthew then pushed the box into the block and the front holographic wall of the block reappeared.

"I see you're doing odd jobs again, Matthew," a voice said from the end of the shelves, making him jump.

Matthew looked down the row of shelves to see a familiar soldier in an ODST uniform standing there. It was Dylan.

"Miss me?" he asked in a taunting manner.

"Sadly, no, Dylan," Matthew replied sarcastically.

Dylan smirked and rested his elbow on the side of the shelf.

"I heard you been doing well in training that fresh meat scum here," he said.

"Yeah," Matthew replied in a defiant tone. "I have,"

Dylan smirked again.

"You want to watch yourself, Matt. You could end up being a recruit just like them." he said. "I think that's where you belong,"

Matthew ignored him. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Our pelican had to make a repair stop here. Whilst in the hanger, I heard about someone called Matthew doing really well in training some new recruits. First person I knew by the name of Matthew was, of course, you and I remembered you had been punished by the UNSC High Command. Add them together and I was right,"

"Wow, you can _remember_ and _add together_. You're not as thick as you look,"

At this point, Dylan's smile disappeared from his face and he glared at Matthew.

"You're asking for it, Matthew," he said.

Matthew shook his head and glared back at Dylan. "Then why don't you come and hit me? C'mon, I'm not scared of you. You think your all tough and hard, then prove it,"

Dylan took a step forward but stopped. It was then he realised something, something he actually feared, but he did not let it overtake him and, still glaring at Matthew, he let out a little smirk.

"I'll get you later," he whispered before he walked out of sight towards the room's entrance, slamming the door behind him.

_Bastard! _Matthew thought as he walked out of the gap between the shelves and walked towards the door. He opened it and walked back outside, looking at Dylan to see him walking back into the direction of the hangers.

"What's up with him?" a worker in the back of the truck asked Matthew as he handed him another box of ammunition.

"Ah, he's just a jerk," Matthew replied, turning to take the box back into the building.

"Hey, Matthew!" a woman's voice exclaimed.

At the sound of this voice, Matthew smiled a little at recognizing the voice's owner. He turned and saw a familiar friend with brown hair and blue eyes rushing over to him.

"Emily!" he exclaimed.

"Hey, how are you?" she asked as she reached him.

"I'm good. What are you doing here?"

"The pelican I was flying got damaged so I had to land it here,"

"Oh. Well, how was your time in Sura?"

"It was fine, thanks."

"Hey buddy," the worker in the back of the truck said, drawing his and Emily's attention. "I don't mean to spoil your moment with your girlfriend, but can you move it please?"

"Right, sorry," Matthew replied, blushing a little that the worker had called Emily his 'girlfriend' and he walked back into the building; Emily followed.

"So how's the training with the recruits going?" she asked as they entered the storage room.

"Fine," Matthew replied. "But I will tell you, it was a pain in the ass when I first started,"

"Why?"

"Well, they were all good at different things but they wanted to try other things and that resulted in arguments." Matthew explained. "They also screwed up a few times as well and make themselves look like idiots-" Matthew entered another gap between two shelves, this time stopping next to the entrance between the two and turning to the one on his right. "-It wasn't until I ran into Harry and he told me to train them at their strengths and make them work as a team," he went on as he typed in the code and pushed the box into the holo-block. "And I did and it worked. Still though, I really can't wait to get out here and get back to Ventura."

"Missing it already?" Emily joked.

Matthew laughed a little. "Yeah,"

A silence erupted between the two for a few seconds before Emily broke the silence.

"I saw Dylan pass me a moment ago," she said to Matthew in a bit of a worried/concerned tone. "And he looked really pissed off,"

Matthew sighed. "Emily, please don't go on about him," he said, sighing again. "If you want to know why he wasn't happy, it was because I called him thick, but he was annoying me,"

"Matthew, I know your trying to defend yourself, but you can't let him get to you. Sometimes I think you entered the UNSC to try and prove you're tougher than him because he picked on you in High School."

"Emily, I didn't join the UNSC to try and act tough and get attention. It was just unfortunate that he joined up after I did. But if you really think about it, I mean he only joined up because he wanted to do something he liked, and let's face it, that's not really any different than why you and me joined up,"

"Well, yeah okay, but still Matthew. I'm worried you'll get into a fight with him. I mean, he was one of the toughest people in High School. Not that I'm scared of him or anything, but I'm worried he might hurt you,"

"Emily, can you think of a time when Dylan actually hurt me through High School? I mean he's called me names and squared up to me a few times, but he's never actually inflicted any harm on me, even when he had his friends around him,"

"I know that, but I just can't help thinking that you and him will get into a fight and get thrown out of the UNSC,"

"We won't, Emily. Look, I promise you, I won't let him get to me,"

Emily smiled. "I'm glad to hear that,"

Matthew smiled and embraced her and she embraced him.

"You really care about me, don't you,"

"Why wouldn't I, you're the best friend out of any of the boys I've met in my life."

Matthew smiled at hearing that. He was glad he and Emily were friends. She liked him because he was a nice person and really caring. He liked her for the same reasons and right now he did not want anyone to spoil this moment.

"How's Eve?" he asked her after a few seconds.

"Oh, she's fine," Emily replied, nuzzling into Matthew's chest. "She's in Washington D.C back on Earth at the moment looking after her mother,"

"Is she coping alright? I mean 'cause you told me she's used up almost all of her holiday extensions and she's even had to take time off work,"

"Yeah, I know. She is fine, but you have to understand that her mother and her are still shook up about what happened to Henry."

Matthew nodded in understanding. Henry was Eve's father and Michelle's, who was her mother, husband. The three of them had been a really close and happy family, but a few years ago Henry was involved in a car accident and died suddenly the next day when he looked like he was improving. Eve had taken it really hard, but things only further spiralled downhill for her and her mother when Michelle developed a mental illness caused by the sudden death of her husband. She was not eating or sleeping and not as active and social as she used to be and had even tried to commit suicide from an overdose of her sleeping tablets a few months after Henry's funeral. Eve had found it really hard and her friends had tried to get her to put her mother into intensive care but she did not want to do that. Why was unknown, probably because she would be worried.

What everyone had found really shocking about Henry's death were two things. One: Eve was only fifteen at the time of his death and it was really, really quite scary for someone to lose their dad that young, and two was how it had affected Eve. Emily had told Matthew during their last year in High School that Eve had looked like she was dying. She just did not get over her father's death for many months afterwards until she saw a psychiatrist, which her friends had made her go to. She was still quite affected by her dad's death but she had gotten over it. If only the same thing could be said for her mother.

Someone clearing their throat at the door's entrance shook the two out of their daydreaming.

"Hey buddy, why don't I leave these here at the door and you can take them in seeing as you're gonna be in there all day,"

Matthew sighed at having had their moment together spoiled and walked down towards the room's entrance where the worker that had been in the back of the truck was standing.

"Thank you," he said in an annoyed tone, to which the worker sighed and shook his head and walked off back outside to get the last of the crates.

"Well, I better be going," Emily said, walking up to the door.

"Right. I'll…um, see you later," Matthew replied, giving her a last hug before she walked past him back outside. Smiling as she left, Matthew bent down and picked up another crate to be put away in the storage room. 


	9. The recruits save the day

**Five days later**

A bright and sunny day had dawned for Eucia. Not a single cloud was in the sky and a gentle breeze was blowing in the air, and the same type of weather was to continue for most of coming weeks. It was the perfect day for practice flying a pelican or a hornet or even a long sword fighter without any trouble from the weather, and that was exactly what was going on with Matthew and the recruits he was training.

On board a pelican that was flying over one of the many fields that surrounded the recruitment centre was Matthew and the recruits. Matthew was at the back of the craft, looking out at the passing green landscape below. In the pilot seat of the pelican was Tommy. In the co-pilot seat next to him was Lee, who was working on the radio equipment of the craft. In the back of the ship with Matthew were Edward and Samuel. Edward was handling a small deployable MG42 machine gun whilst Samuel was also looking out at the landscape passing below, though he was sitting on the end seat on the other side of the resting area of the pelican.

Things had been going well for them over the past week. The four were now always working as a team and, from the officer who had been training them earlier in the week; they had done very well in learning how to fly and land a pelican and to protect it from any enemy aircraft. He also said that he was impressed in the way that they had worked together to solve problems on board the pelican, which he also said had come a lot quicker than when he trained anyone in the past. Matthew was happy for them. They were beginning to be well known amongst the others at the base, allowing them to start making friends with other new recruits, and they were proving to be well worth the training. However, he still kept him mind that he was getting close to getting out of this punishment he was in. In fact, he had run into the officer that had introduced him to the four just yesterday and he asked him how long he had left and the officer had told him that his improvement on training them meant he would be free soon, quite soon.

Matthew, who was with the recruits because he wanted to see how much they had learned the other day in piloting and landing a pelican, turned and walked towards the cog pit. As he passed Edward, he saw him trying to open up the bottom of the weapon to bring out the leg, but so far he was having no luck.

"There's a small button on the side of the weapon that'll bring out the leg," Matthew told him stopping at the cog pit doorway. Edward looked up at him and then at the side of the weapon to see a tiny red button no bigger than his thumbnail there.

"Oh, thanks, sir," he replied and he pressed the button. A tiny slot on the bottom of the weapon opened and the single mechanical leg unfolded itself as it came out of the weapon like a snake scouring what was around It's den when it awoke from It's slumber. Edward then got up and walked to the end of the pelican and placed the weapon down on the resting area's floor just a few feet from the entrance to the craft.

Matthew smiled and walked into the cog pit, where Lee was talking into a small radio on the front of the craft.

"Roger commander, this is Bravo 264. We are coming in for a descend now," he said.

_"Roger that, Bravo 264. This is ground control, bring her in nice and easy," _a voice replied from the radio.

Matthew looked out through the cog pit window to see a small camp-like area about fifteen hundred feet ahead. It was a few blocks where four officers and group of marines working on radio equipment. One of the marines there, who had red hair and green eyes and was kneeling down in front of a box with his radio placed on top of it, had been speaking into the radio, replying to Lee when he spoke to them just a moment earlier.

"You're doing well, guys," Matthew commented.

"Thank you, sir," Lee replied. "Alright, Tommy, just bring her in gently,"

"Roger that," Tommy said.

He pulled back slowly on the controls and the pelican began to descend slowly towards the ground, the small camp gradually getting closer and closer. Matthew could not help but feel please with this group, even if he was only here for punishment. They had gone from being a divided and continuously arguing group to one that was willing to work together and help each other. They had done very well and they had proved to him they could pilot and land and even defend a pelican. They had done well, very we-

_BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! _Suddenly, a small red alarm button on the control panel in front of Lee turned on.

"What's going on?" Matthew asked.

"Dunno, sir," Lee replied.

He pressed a button next to the alarm button and a holographic image of the pelican's craft from a bird's eye view appeared in front of him. It showed the left rear exhaust of the craft light up and blinking red. Something was wrong.

"Something's wrong in the exhaust," Lee muttered.

Matthew leaned forward and pressed the holographic image and the rest of the craft, apart from the exhaust, disappeared. The image of the exhaust grew until it filled almost the entire screen. The inside of the exhaust lit up red and a female computer voice erupted inside the cog pit.

"**Warning! Warning! Fire in exhaust engine two has caused reverse! Recommend cutting power to the exhaust!"**

"Oh no!" Matthew said in a panicked voice. The exhaust engine was reversing, which meant that rather than taking air in through It's top and blowing it out of the bottom of the engine, which the craft normally did to keep it flying, it was doing the opposite, and it carried on the pelican would crash!

Suddenly, Lee's radio sprang to life.

_"Bravo 264, this is ground control. Respond, over!"_

Lee grabbed the radio and held it up to his lips. "This is Bravo 264 to ground control. We read you, over," he said.

_"Bravo 264, you have smoke coming from your second exhaust engine! I recommend you land now!"_

"Roger that, ground control. We are coming in no-"

Suddenly, Matthew, Lee and Tommy felt the ship descend a lot quicker than they anticipated. That is because it was, only not directly down, but directly down with the rear left of the pelican going first! And to only make things worse, the craft jerked a little when Tommy fell out of his seat. Luckily, however, he managed to hang on to the side of his seat and pulled himself back into it.

"Guys, what's going on?" Edward shouted from the resting area.

"We don't know, just hang on to something and don't fall out of the craft!" Matthew shouted back.

Lee pulled himself up to his seat and took another look at the exhaust engine on the holographic image. Now the entire thing was blinking red and a small message appeared below the image of the exhaust, which was also blinking red, which said: _Warning! Exhaust engine two at critical level of reverse! Recommend cutting off power to the engine immediately!_

"Shit!" Lee muttered. "We need to turn off the power to the second exhaust," he said to Matthew.

"Alright, pull me up," he replied.

Lee grabbed Matthew by the hand and used all his strength to try and lift him up towards the control panel, which was hard as the craft was at a 30 degree angle and pitching towards the ground fast. Matthew grabbed hold of Lee's seat and pulled himself towards the control panel and, when he was close enough, used his finger to touch the message on the holographic screen. The image instantly changed into two smaller messages, both with questions at the end. One read: _Cut off power?_, the other read: _Leave exhaust engine? _Matthew pressed down on the _Cut off power _message and the alarm instantly turned off. The pelican then rocked a little as it rose back up a little, just enough for Matthew and Lee to stand up normally again.

"Are we safe?" Lee asked, hoping they were.

"Not yet," Matthew replied. "We'll still crash unless a miracle happens."

"No," Samuel interrupted as he, holding onto the sides of the pelican's seat, pulled himself into the cog pit's doorway. "When we were on the pelican the other day, the officer said there was a manual control button just below the exhaust engine. If we press that, that'll automatically fix it."

"He's right," Matthew replied. "There's a small pole usually kept under the seats to use when that button needs to be pressed. Quick, find it and use it,"

"We can't, it fell out when the pelican pitched," Edward said from the cog pit.

Matthew cursed loudly and looked hopelessly out through the window at the ground, which was beginning to get very close. If they did not do something quick to get them out of this predicament, then they were as good as dead.

"Then, there's only one other way to solve this," he said after a few seconds. "Someone's gonna have to climb out and press it,"

"That's suicidal!" Samuel told him.

"And It's the only way we can save ourselves from being blown apart in a crash landing," Matthew replied. Then , he stood up. "I'll do it,"

"But sir, you'll get killed!" Tommy objected.

"It's our only other way of getting out of this thing safely. Lee, you stay on the radio. Samuel, Edward, come with me,"

Matthew, grabbing hold of the side of the door and the seats, walked past Samuel into the resting area and pulled himself along towards the entrance to the craft. Edward and Samuel followed him. When they reached the entrance to the craft, Matthew looked over his shoulder at them.

"Right, when I climb out, pass me that machine gun and I'm gonna try and activate the exhaust again," he ordered.

The two nodded and Matthew grabbed hold of the top of the entrance and pulled himself out and moved along the craft towards the left end of the entrance. When he got near it, he tried to use his hand to see if he could activate the exhaust but it was out of reach.

"Okay, pass me the gun," he said.

Edward passed him the gun and Matthew leaned out as far as he could, the barrel of the weapon stretched out in front of him. _Just a little closer! _He seemed to repeat to himself _Almost there! Just another inch further!  
><em>

Suddenly, Matthew's hand slipped from the top of the pelican entrance. Edward and Samuel grabbed him just as he was about to fall out of reach. Matthew gasped in shock at the sudden fall but quickly regained himself, also sighing in relief as he almost dropped the gun, and the two pulled him into the resting area.

"Thanks," he said. "I need to try again,"

"No, you almost fell, sir," Edward protested. "I'll do it,"

"You can't, who's to say you won't fall as well?" Samuel told him.

"Just at least let me try," Edward replied.

Matthew sighed. "Alright, but I'll lend you hand," he said to him.

Edward nodded and the two grabbed hold of the top of the pelican entrance and pulled themselves out of the craft and moved along to the end again. When they reached it, Matthew said to Edward: "Alright, give me your hand," Edward did so, grabbing hold of Matthew's other hand and Samuel, who had taken the gun, passed it to Edward. Matthew then began swinging Edward towards the exhaust button. Edward held out the gun in front of him. First swing: no, not close enough! Second swing: closer, but still not near enough!

"Edward, try and stretch out a little further!" Matthew said to him in a weak voice. "I haven't got enough strength to keep doing this!"

"I can't stretch out any further, sir!" Edward replied. 

The situation was beginning to turn critical, and it continued to do so then they were all as good as dead.

On the ground, those in the camp looked in hopelessness and fear. The pelican was now just one hundred and fifty feet from the ground and if it continued on, it would crash!

"We need to help them!" one of the marines said to one of the officers.

"How?" the officer replied. "There's no time to call in another pelican from the base and we're not of any use on the ground!"

"Wait!" one of the marines exclaimed.

He ran back to his radio and began speaking into it.

"Bravo 264, come in, quickly!" he said

Lee picked up the radio.

"This is bravo 264, over," he replied.

"_This is gonna sound crazy, but activate your landing gear and try and get it to bring the craft to a halt,"_

"What if the pelican crashes?"

_"You'll just have to risk it! Do it, quickly!"_

Lee was now in a big dilemma. Was he to follow the marine's orders and activate the landing gear, or was he to disobey and let the pelican crash. Either way, the craft would crash, but he more worried for Matthew, Edward and Samuel in the back of the craft. Even if he did act, there was no doubt they would be hurt or even killed. What was he to do?

Finally, he made up his decision. He followed the marine's orders.

"Sir, just try once more," Edward pleaded with Matthew.

"Then just try and stretch out further, Ed," Matthew replied. "I can only manage one more swing!"

"Okay, sir. I'll do my best,"

"I hope. Okay, here we go,"

Matthew swung Edward back and forth, starting slowly at first but gradually getting faster. As he did so, he caught sight of the ever growing green below them. They were now about seventy feet from the ground. Another few seconds and they were dead. This was it. This was his last shot.

"Okay, Ed. One…two…THR-"

Suddenly, the landing gear unfolded themselves just as Matthew swung Edward towards the exhaust. Samuel yelled out "EDWARD, WATCH OUT!" but before they could react…

CRASH! The landing gear struck the ground with terrifying force, jolting the craft violently into the air. The force of the jolt caused Matthew to lose his grip on the entrance. Luckily, Samuel, grabbed his arm and, with Matthew still holding onto Edward, pulled him up with all his strength.

"HANG ON!" Tommy yelled.

CRASH! The pelican struck the ground again, throwing the three to the floor. They grabbed hold of the seats and shut their eyes tightly, waiting for the final crash that would finish them off.

It never came.

After about two seconds, Matthew opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder to see that the craft was still flying.

"What the…?" he said.

Edward and Samuel opened their eyes.

"What happened?" Samuel asked.

"Guys!" someone exclaimed from the cog pit. The three looked to see Lee standing in the doorway, a look of cheer on his face. "You did it! You saved us!"

As soon as they heard that, the three broke into yells and cheers of relief and happiness. They were safe. Matthew was shouting "Well done, guys!" whilst Edward and Samuel pulled each other into a hug and patted each other on the back before releasing each other and yelling out again.

_"Bravo 264, come in! I repeat, Bravo 264 come in!" _

Lee rushed back into the cog pit to his radio. Matthew, Edward and Samuel followed him and reached the cog pit as Lee sat down and picked up the radio.

"This is Bravo 264 to ground control! We're safe, I repeat: we're safe!"

_"Good work! Now, bring her in carefully, quick!"_

"Yes, sir," Lee turned to Tommy. "You heard him Tommy," he said.

Tommy nodded and turned the craft left and flew towards the camp. When they were about one hundred feet from it, he pulled back on the craft's controls, slowing it down and bringing it to a halt. Then, he slowly and gently lowered the craft to the ground. Lee breathed a sigh of relief. They were safe! They had done it! 

The pelican jolted again as it touched down on the ground. The five wasted no time in getting off it. When they did, they were greeted by the group of officers and marines.

"Are you guys alright?" one of the marines asked.

"How the Hell did that happen?" one of the officers asked. "How the Hell did you make that craft take off again?"

"I swung Edward towards the manual exhaust button whilst he had the machine gun in his hands, sir," Matthew replied. "He managed to activate it again just as the landing gear stuck the ground," he added.

"Well, you did it and you're safe," the officer told him. "Well done,"

Matthew shook his head. "No, sir. They did it," he pointed at the four recruits. "They did most of the work and they worked together in activating the exhaust and saving the craft. If there's anyone to congratulate, It's them,"

The officer looked from Matthew to the recruits and back again. After a few seconds, he cleared his throat and stood up straight, looking at the four recruits.

"Well, well done you four," he said. "I'll be sure you get all get a medal for this,"

They nodded. "Thank you, sir," they chanted.

The officer nodded. "Now let's get you lot back to base. I'm sure you'll need to rest after all this,"

That was something they all agreed on immediately.


	10. Injury

**Four days later**

**Date: September 20****th**

In the days following what had happened outside the base in the surrounding fields, news of the recruits managing to save themselves and their leader from a fiery death had quickly spread amongst the other new arrivals. By the end of the day it had happened, everyone was asking them how they had done it and how they had survived without being killed. This had led to them making new friends, and what was better; the humiliation from the early days of the recruits being at the base seemed to have been completely forgotten and the taunting they received from their fellow comrades had ended abruptly.

Matthew was proud of them. He had received a bit of publicity from the other recruits but most of it was directed at his group of recruits. He did not mind though. He was proud of both them and the fact that they were no longer regarded as laughing stalks and outcasts amongst the others at the base. Then, as if to top off all of the good things that had come that day, the officer that had introduced Matthew to the recruits had told him that because of their actions in saving each other and him in working together, he was finally told that he would be taken off his punishment within a few days. That was something Matthew was really looking forward to and was praying could come quicker.

For now, though, he and the recruits were at the warthog driving centre, going for another full run in taking on the obstacles of the track. At the moment, they were waiting their turn to go on the track as another warthog was out there. Matthew was leaning against the front of their passenger warthog watching the other warthog out on the track. Lee was also watching, though he was in the passenger seat, leaning on the front. Samuel was sitting in the back with Edward, checking the ammo for their machine gun. Tommy was sitting in the driver seat, his head on his hand which was held up by his elbow. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a few moments, obviously bored at waiting, before he decided to follow Lee and Matthew in watching the other warthog out on the track.

"How long have they been out there?" Lee asked Matthew.

"About tem minutes," he replied. "Shouldn't be too long now, they're near the end,"

CLANG! The three jumped and looked over their shoulders to see Edward lean down, almost falling out of the warthog but had grabbed the side just in time to prevent himself from doing so, and pick up the box of machine gun ammo from the ground.

"Sorry," he said when he had picked the box up. "Dropped it,"

Matthew rolled his eyes and, along with Tommy and Lee, resumed looking out at the warthog on the track, which was just nearing the bridge at the end. Things at the base had been a bit hectic today. The medical personal had been taken to Sura city for a training course so the number of medical personal at the base was very limited, which meant everyone had to be extra careful in their training exercises so as not to inflict any harm on themselves or anyone else.

"Hey Tommy," Edward called. "Can you pass me the other box from under your seat?"

"Sure," Tommy replied.

Tommy leant forward and reached under his seat and pulled out another small box with the word _Ammunition _written on the top. He turned and leant forward to pass Edward the box. However, as he passed him the box and sat back down in his seat, he failed to notice his foot land on the accelerator.

Suddenly…

VROOM! The warthog shot forward, knocking Matthew off his feet with a yell and causing him to land painfully on his side on the ground. Lee was thrown back into his seat, as was Tommy, and Edward and Samuel were thrown off the back of the warthog onto the ground. The machine gun, which Edward had accidentally turned onto auto fire when he fell off the warthog, landed on the ground behind them.

The sound of a gunshot filled the air like thunder as the machine gun fired a bullet at Edward. It sliced through his leg and pulverized It's way through his chest, exiting just below his armpit. Edward yelled out and Matthew, who had gotten up and heard the gunshot, rushed over to see if he was okay.

"Edward!" he exclaimed. He looked at the entry and exit wounds, which were beginning to drip blood. "Oh no!"

"Is it bad?" Samuel asked worryingly as he pulled himself over to his friend.

"What...d'you think!" Edward hissed, gritting his teeth hard as the pain erupted all around his body.

"Is he alright?" Tommy asked as he and Lee rushed over to them from the warthog, which had crashed into the wall at the side of the track but they did not care about the vehicle. They were more concerned about their friend.

"No, we need to get him to the base's hospital," Matthew told him. "Samuel, go and get the officers in the warehouse to call for a pelican,"

Samuel nodded and rushed over to the nearby building. Matthew, now joined by Lee and Tommy who had knelt down beside him, examined the wound once again. He felt around Edward's side and he could feel several of his ribs were broken. Edward gasped as he touched them and grabbed his hand to stop him from touching the broken bones.

"S-stop-p!" Edward moaned in pain.

The sound of running feet made the three look over at the warehouse to see Samuel and an elderly officer running towards them.

"Don't worry, we've called for a pelican," the officer told them when they reached them. He knelt down beside Edward. "How bad is he?" he asked.

"I felt some broken bones, I think the bullet's shattered two or three of his ribs," Matthew replied. "How long is the pelican gonna be?" he asked the officer.

"Here it comes now," Lee piped up, pointing out towards in the direction of the base where a pelican was just beginning to descend towards them.

A few moments later, the pelican stopped about twenty feet from the group, hovering about ten feet from the ground, and a marine jumped out of the craft and rushed over towards them.

"Got a call to take a wounded soldier," he said.

"Thanks," Matthew replied and he helped the marine lift Edward over to the craft, the others following in case they needed any help. When they reached the back of the craft, the marine climbed into the resting area and, with Matthew's help, lifted Edward up into it, laying him down on one of the seats. The marine then went to tell the pilot they were ready to go but he saw Matthew was staying put.

"I'm coming with you guys," Matthew told the marine before he could ask. "He's a member of my squad,"

The marine nodded, deciding it was best not to argue, and rushed over to the cog pit. Matthew sat down on the end seat next to Edward and looked around the rest of the resting area. It had several large crates with the words _Shipment to Sura_ written on the tops of them. He laughed a little, knowing that they were in a pelican that was doing a cargo delivery. Wow! He never thought one of these would be saving someone's life before.

The pelican rose steadily into the air. When it was about twenty feet above the ground, the craft flew off away from the centre. Matthew looked back out to see the rest of the group waiting there, watching him go. He sighed, knowing that he would have to tell them what would happen to Edward if he lived or not when he got back, and looked back at his wounded recruit.

He rested a hand on his shoulder. "You'll be alright, Ed," he said.

Edward laughed a little, only to stop as he gritted his teeth hard again to try and conceal the pain flowing within him.

"Thanks, sir," he replied. 


	11. The fight

**One hour later**

**Location: Sura city**

Sura city, the capital of Eucia with a population of 2.5 million people. This city was much different than other cities on the colonized worlds. Rather than being completely full of skyscrapers towering well over a thousand feet tall, it mainly comprised of small skyscrapers only a few hundred feet tall and had a large residential area surrounding them. Despite this, it was still a popular place, just like the planet as well.

Within the downtown area of Eucia was a large group of rectangular buildings with a large park in the middle and surrounded by parking lots on the outside. This was the Henderson hospital, the largest on Eucia. On the top of each of the rectangular buildings was a large platform with the letters LZ written on them. This was for pelicans and emergency transports to land on when people needed to be evacuated to the hospital quickly rather than having to go through the city streets.

Within one of the rectangular buildings, Matthew was sitting on a chair in the waiting room, holding his head up on his hand which was held up by his elbow resting on his leg. He was tapping his other hand non-stop on his other leg worriedly. The pelican had arrived at the hospital about forty minutes ago and Edward had been taken away into the operation room. Matthew had been waiting ever since, not hearing anything from the doctors or nurses that were occasionally entering and exiting the operating room.

A few clicks coming from nearby drew Matthew's attention. Behind a circular desk with a small opening in it was a woman with long blonde hair, brown eyes and pink painted fingernails. She was tapping loudly on the keyboard of the holographic computer screen in front of her. Matthew sighed annoyingly. That clicking was annoying him but he not going to let it get to him. He had other things to worry about anyway.

Then, the doors at the end of the corridor opened and another woman was walking towards the waiting room. Matthew looked up and recognized her instantly.

"Emily!" he exclaimed.

She saw him and rushed over to him, embracing him as he got up.

"Oh, good, you're okay," she said in a relieved tone. "I heard what happened at the base, I thought you had been hurt as well,"

"No, just a bit of pain from when I got knocked off my feet," he replied, stroking his hand through her brown hair.

The two released each other and Matthew looked back over at the door as if hoping it would open and a doctor or nurse would emerge from the room and tell him on how Edward was doing.

"Do you know how he is?" Emily asked him.

"No," Matthew replied. "I haven't heard anything since we arrived," he sank back into his chair. "I'm worried about him, Emily. He's a member of my squad and I can't see him die before he's even in the UNSC,"

Emily knelt down in front of him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Matthew, he'll be fine," she said softly to him trying to comfort him. "I've seen wounded people a lot before and even taken a few here and I've felt worried about them like you are with Edward now, but in the end they end up pulling through and being alright,"

Matthew looked up at her and smiled a little. "I wish I had your faith, Emily,"

She nodded. "C'mon, I'll take you outside for some fresh air,"

Matthew nodded in agreement and got up and walked alongside Emily out of the waiting room and down the corridor, the doors at the end opening automatically for them, into an elevator. They stepped into it and the doors closed. The elevator jolted slightly as it descended down to the ground floor. When it stopped, with another jolt, the doors opened and Matthew and Emily walked out of the elevator, moving to allow two doctors to enter, and across the hospital entrance room, which was a large square shape with another circular reception desk in the middle of the room, that had another woman with blonde hair behind it, and several chairs on the right and left sides of the room, some being sat on by patients, towards the entrance doors, which opened as they approached them. The two walked outside and let the cool breeze engulf them. Matthew sighed, relieved as he felt suddenly calmer again being outside.

"Do you feel better now?" Emily asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. "Thank you,"

The two walked over to the wall the entrance door were on and leaned against them. Ahead of them, about sixty feet away, was another of the hospital rectangular buildings. A few doctors, patients and family relatives were walking about to and from the buildings. Matthew wondered whether they were going to see if anyone they knew was alright. They were probably as panicked as him but were managing to conceal it behind a smile. If only the same thing could happen to him.

Then, something in Emily's pocket beeped loudly. She reached into it and took out a small square shaped object that had a small blinking red light emitting from the side of the object and a beeping sound was emitting from the object as well. Emily pressed down on the object and a small holographic image of a pelican appeared in front of her just above the square shaped object.

"Oh shoot," she said. "I'll be back in a minute, Matthew. I forgot to lock my pelican."

"Okay," he replied and she ran off in the direction of a nearby parking lot. She turned the corner of a nearby building and disappeared from sight.

Matthew sighed and rested his head against the wall. This was bad. He had not heard anything from Edward and he was left worrying on whether he would be alright or not. All he could do was hope and pray he would pull through and be okay.

"Well, well, well. Look who's here, boys,"

Oh no! Not now!

Matthew looked to his right and saw a group of men in ODST uniforms walking towards him. At their head, as usual, was Dylan.

"What do you want, Dylan?" Matthew asked, standing up straight.

"We heard what happened to one of your little recruits," he replied in a mocking worried voice. "Heard he got a little hurt! Awwww!"

Matthew felt a jolt of anger rise through him but he kept his cool. He did not want to let Dylan see he was getting angry, and he was _not_ going to let him get to him.

"Why don't you go away and leave me alone?" Matthew said to him.

Dylan and his gang just sniggered.

"What's the matter, am I getting to you?"

Matthew ignored him, but Dylan just kept on annoying him.

"You know what I think about your recruit, Matty? I think he's a failure,"

At these words, Matthew, who had gone to walk back inside the building stopped. Dylan smiled, knowing he had hit Matthew at his core and he was going to do it again.

"Did you hear me, Matty? He's a failure and you know it. In fact, he's a pussy just like all of your recruits!"

"Shut up!" Matthew snarled, his hands clenching into fists but Dylan only smiled and stepped towards him.

"What's the matter? Oh wait; I know what the matter is. You care for those scum and low lives! I know and you know their nothing in the UNSC. They're a disgrace, just like you!"

"I'm warning you, Dylan! Shut up! You're pissing me off!" Matthew repeated, his hands beginning to shake.

Dylan laughed a little and stopped just a few inches behind Matthew. "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it! That's right, nothing! And you know what else; you're just like them, Matthew! You're nothing but a disgrace. You and those recruits should be kicked out! That's what I'd do to you! In fact, when I heard what happened, I hoped he would die! You get that! If not…" his voice began to rise. "I'll tell you again! I hoped he would die!"

"SHUT UP!"

Before Dylan could blink, Matthew shot round and swung a punch at Dylan, hitting him in the face! Dylan fell to the ground with Matthew standing over him, his fists clenched and breathing heavily as if he was a madman. A few nearby doctors and people scattered around the building looked to see who had yelled.

Suddenly, Dylan got up and charged towards Matthew and grabbed him round the waist, sending him crashing to the floor. He then grabbed Matthew's hair and punched him in the face, hitting him in the cheek. Matthew yelled out and pushed Dylan off and got up from the ground.

"ARGH! GET HIM!"

Matthew looked over his shoulder to see the other three ODST's running towards him. One of them swung a punch at Matthew, which he ducked and punched the ODST in the stomach, winding him. However, the second ODST charged into him and threw him to the ground. Dylan, who had gotten up from the ground, grabbed Matthew and pulled him up to punch him, but Matthew brought his foot down onto Dylan's making him yell out. Matthew took the opportunity to step backwards away from Dylan.

"MATTHEW!" a woman shouted from behind him.

Matthew looked over his shoulder to see Emily standing about fifteen feet away. She was staring at him with disbelief. It was then he realised what he had done. He had broken his promise to her!

Suddenly, Dylan grabbed Matthew and threw him back into a circle formed by him and the other three ODST's. They all stepped towards him, their fists clenched, ready to strike at him. Matthew was in trouble. He was surrounded!

Then, with his back turned, the ODST behind Matthew took his chance and punched him in the side. Matthew yelled out and collapsed onto his knees.

"Leave him alone!"

Emily ran over and grabbed Dylan on the arm to try and stop him but he pushed her off him.

"Stay out of this, Emily!" he said to her. "This punk's getting what was coming to him,"

"STOP!"

The next thing they knew, a group of marines grabbed Dylan, the other three ODST's and Matthew and pushed them up against the wall. Another one pulled Emily away and she watched as an officer approached them.

"What the Hell's going on?" he shouted angrily. "This is the UNSC and you guys are trying to rip each other's heads off as if you're damn school kids!"

"He started it, sir," Matthew replied, pointing at Dylan.

"I don't care who started it!" the officer shouted, silencing him. "Now, you lot…" he pointed at Dylan and the ODST's. "…Beat it! You…" he pointed at Matthew. "…Get back inside!"

The marines stepped back from them and Dylan, who glared at Matthew, and the ODST's walked off past him. Matthew walked off back into the building; Emily, who had been released by the marine, walked after him.

When the two reached the waiting room outside the operating room again, Matthew stopped in front of his seat, breathing heavily. Emily stopped a few feet behind him. The receptionist did not even look up from where she was sitting.

"I wasn't my fault, Emily!" he said.

"I can't believe you!" she replied in a breaking voice. "Matthew, you promised me you wouldn't get into a fight with Dylan!"

"He was annoying me, Emily!" Matthew rounded on her and stepped towards her. "He told me I was a disgrace. It's not because of that, but he said he hoped Edward would die!"

"You should have just walked off, Matthew. Oh, you're gonna get in big trouble now!"

"Oh well that's just great! I get close to finishing one punishment and now I've landed dead in the middle of another one!" he turned and walked back towards his seat. "This is just great!"

When he finished the last word, he kicked his seat with all his anger. The chair flew across the floor, landing with a bang against the opposite wall of the corridor. The receptionist glared at him, but Matthew ignored her and he rested his back against the wall where his chair had been and slid down to the floor and buried his face in his knees. Emily stared sadly at him for a moment before she walked over to him and sat down beside him and embraced him. Matthew was surprise at first but after a second or two, he accepted the embrace and embraced her.

Emily was right, and even though he did not want to believe it, once news of this fight to the UNSC High Command, there would be no doubt he would be in even bigger trouble.


	12. The enemy of my enemy

**Five months later**

**Date: February 4****th****, 2551**

**Location: Altara valley, Umentar region, Eucia. **

**45 miles north of Sura city**

The Altara valley was a popular region for exploring and camping for people on holiday from Sura and other parts of Eucia, mainly because of the large lake in the middle of the valley. It was popular for fishing and swimming and sometimes even sailing tiny little boats across the water, especially in the summer. However, it was popular for another reason. Occasionally, if you were lucky, you got to see the UNSC carry out a military practice in the area. All types of practices from testing of guns and new weapons to practice gunfights and the dropping of Special Forces troops all occurred here every so often. People from all around the surrounding regions would flock to see these military practices and they really enjoyed them.

Today, that was what was happening. Flying over the valley region was a small UNSC warship craft with a rectangular main section and three smaller rectangular sections sticking out of the back of it with circular openings at the ends of them. They were the engines. At the front of the craft, sticking out of the middle of a dome-like section of the ship was a tall thick tower with an oval shaped section at the top of it. A thin window went around the entire side of the oval shaped section. This was the bridge. Scattered around the ship were several turrets to fend off enemy craft. The ship's main weapon was the large rail-gun cannon built into the main section of the ship, where a large circular hole was at the front of the craft to enable the rail-gun projectiles to be fired out of. On both sides of the main rectangular section of the ship were large rectangular holes, the ships' hangers. Along the bottom of the ship were several small circular holes about fifteen feet across. These were HEV pods ejection silos. The ship's name was the _Zeus_, constructed in 2479 as one of the first of the UNSC Navy's new type of frigates. The size of the craft made it quick in travelling and it was effective in disorganising a fleet of hostile craft, though this was done through testing as Humanity had not really been at war for…well, a very, very long time.

Inside the HEV bay, a group of ODST's and several officers and workers were preparing for the practice jump of landing ODST's in a combat zone. The HEV bay was a large square shaped room with four rows of HEV's lined up, twelve in each, with a small door on the wall in front of the first row. There were about four ODST's who were standing and talking in a group in the second row with the three officers, who were going over the mission details with them. The mission was separated into two parts. Part one was on the ship, where they would be launched to the ground, and part two of the mission was where they would be practicing taking out hostiles in a make shift village below. The workers were scattered around the room, making sure the HEV's were prepared for launch and checking the equipment inside.

Among the workers was Matthew. He had been back at the recruitment centre, preparing a hostage situation training exercise for the recruits when an officer had decided to pick him to replace a worker on this ship who was off sick. He had not been happy about this. In fact, happiness was something he had felt rarely over the past five months. Ever since the fight he had with Dylan outside the hospital in Sura city, just when he was days from finally getting out of his punishment and getting back to his old life, it had been extended, partly also because Edward needed time to recover. Matthew was furious when he heard about this. The end to his punishment was so close and then something suddenly takes it from him and he was now left here even longer. The recruits had suffered a little bit as well from this. He had trained them a little harder, once to the point where they had all (Edward had returned by this point) been harmed, and he had been angry at them, almost as much as when he had started training them. He did not mean this, but the action of him being put here for much longer had really annoyed him, and he and Emily had not really been speaking much, again because of the fight, mainly because she was avoiding but whether it was out of anger or time to let him cool down was unknown.

As Matthew walked into the second row, he looked over at the group of ODST's and officers and anger filled him. Dylan was among them. Ever since the fight, though, the two had barely seen each other but they hated each other nonetheless, probably even more now after what happened. Matthew had not been happy when he saw Dylan here, but for some reason he was not his old self. He was not picking on Matthew and squaring up to him like he usually did when he saw him. Why Matthew did not know but, to be completely honest, he just did not care the slightest. He just wanted to make sure he put some distance between him and Dylan. Drawing his eyes from the group, he carried on with his work, checking the HEV in front of him.

A few minutes later, the officers ordered the ODST's to get ready. The workers moved away from them and watched as they each stood in front of the HEV at the right end of each row. Matthew, who was still in the second row but standing at the other end, watched Dylan as he stood in front of the HEV. He was willing to push him into that thing when it opened, but the thought of him having his punishment time increased stopped him. Like I said before, he really hated Dylan even more since the fight and he, in a sense, wanted to hurt him back for hurting him, but he just could not do it.

"Alright, ODST's. Opening the HEV's," one of the officers, standing next to the door where a control panel had come out of the wall, said. He pressed a button on the control panel and the front of the HEV's opened up to reveal the space inside, which was big enough for a man to fit into. Several weapons were attached onto the sides of the walls inside the HEV.

"Alright, on my mark. Prepare to jump!" the officer ordered.

As Matthew looked back at Dylan, after looking where the officer's voice had come from, he saw a strange look on Dylan's face. It was not happy or angry. It looked to be…fear? He looked like he was scared of something, but what?

Matthew walked down the row towards Dylan, who saw him coming but did not look at him. He just stood there, looking at the inside of the HEV as if he were in a trance.

"What's wrong with you?" Matthew asked him.

Dylan tried to reply, but the words got lost in his mouth, and his fast breathing and the sweat, caused by his fear, building up on his forehead did not help either.

"Alright, board!" the officer ordered.

The ODST's, apart from Dylan, stepped into the HEV and turned so they were facing the entrance to the craft. Matthew looked at Dylan, who now had his eyes closed and was whimpering slightly, and then at the HEV's insides. Why was he scared of entering this thing? What was wrong with it that sc-

Wait a minute. Something about the inside of the HEV brought back an old memory from last year, about September time. When he had been at the recruitment centre helping with the delivery of the ammo, Dylan had squared up to him again but he had been in a thin row between two shelves and Dylan had gone to…then he...he left without anything more. That was it! That was why Dylan was scared of going into the HEV.

"Your claustrophobic aren't you," he said to Dylan.

"Y-y-yes," Dylan replied, stammering with fear.

"Alright, HEV 4, launch," the officer ordered.

FWOOM! The HEV at the end of the room suddenly shot downwards and disappeared from sight. For a second, the light of day came up from where the HEV had been before it disappeared with a small boom. The door at the bottom of the silo had closed.

"I-I can't do this!" Dylan said to Matthew.

"Dylan, you need to!" Matthew said to him.

He did not know what had gone over him but for some reason, he felt the urge to help Dylan, even if he was someone he hated.

"Dylan, just take a deep breath and step in there," Matthew said to him, looking back down the row to see if the officers were coming.

"I can't! I can't do it!"

"Dylan, you need to or you'll get in trouble!"

"HEV 3, launch!" the officer ordered and the HEV in the row in front of Matthew and Dylan shot downwards and disappeared.

"Alright, Dylan, just take a deep breath and overcome this! C'mon, I know you can do it!" Matthew looked down the row to see the officer watching the control panel as if he were waiting for something. "Alright, take a deep breath and step into it, okay?"

Dylan shut his eyes for a second, the scared look still on his face, before he opened them again and nodded. He took a deep breath and withdrew. Then another deep breath, and another, and another.

"Alright, on the count of three. Step in, okay?"

Dylan nodded.

"HEV 2, launch!" the officer ordered.

"Alright, one, two! Three!"

Dylan, who had mouthed the numbers, stepped forward into the HEV and turned. The entrance to the craft then closed, Matthew catching a panicked look on his face as if he were saying "Oh God, help me! Get me out of here!" and, a second later, the craft shot downwards through the silo. Daylight blinded Matthew for a second before the silo door closed.

He sighed in relief, and surprise. He could not believe he had just done that. Before, he had hated Dylan with every bone in his body and the fight had only made his hatred for him grow. Now, it seemed to have disappeared in an instant. How? How had it?

"HEV 1, launch!" the officer ordered and the last HEV shot downwards and disappeared from sight. "Alright, everyone out of the bay,"

Matthew took one last look back at the silo that had been covered by Dylan's HEV just seconds earlier before he turned and joined the other workers in leaving the room. As he passed the officers, he heard one of them talk into a radio on his chest, saying something about all the HEV's approaching the makeshift village below.

"Hey, Matthew!" a voice called.

Matthew, who was now in the corridor that led to the ship's left hanger going right and to a second corridor going left, looked in the direction of the hanger to see the officer who had introduced him to the recruits running up to him.

"I'm glad I found you," he said.

"Are you?" Matthew asked, a little confused.

"Yep," the officer replied. "Come with me. I need to talk to you,"


	13. Should I stay or go?

**Later that day**

The nights on Eucia were truly ones to remember, and tonight was as good as ever. The sky was filled with trillions of stars that seemed to cover the entire black sky of space. If anyone was out for a walk tonight, there was no doubt they would not miss the beauty and calm power the stars seemed to hold within themselves. It was truly amazing.

Unfortunately, for those at the base, it just seemed to be like any other normal night. The lights built onto the sides of the buildings had been switched on, clearing the base and the surrounding fields of darkness. A few soldiers were still walking about to and from the buildings, but other than that the base was pretty much quiet.

Inside one of the barracks, Lee, Tommy, Samuel and Edward were sitting around a table set between the two bunk beds they shared, going over the city of Rodum on Takra. Coincidentally, they all came from Rodum, and they were all talking about where about in the areas of the city they came from and how they did not know each other then. Other groups of marines were scattered around the barracks and a few others were already asleep in their bunks.

The past five months had been the best time for the four at the base. They had made a lot of new friends and everyone here seemed to forget about the humiliation and the first few weeks of when the recruits were here. Edward's wound had also healed and it no longer hurt when touched, which it did for the first few weeks when the bandages had been removed. It had been tough, but now they just wanted to forget the past and look to the future, and it looked bright, especially as they had only two weeks left of training and then they would be done.

The door to the barracks opened and Matthew walked in, a look of excitement on his face. Tommy heard the door open and looked over to see him enter.

"Sir!" he exclaimed.

Matthew held up his hand as if to say 'hi' but he did not come over to them. Instead, he went over to his bed, which was the bottom one of another bunk bed just across from the recruits and reached under his bed and took out his backpack and, placing it on his bed, opened it and looked through it.

"Is something wrong, sir?" Lee asked, getting up.

"No, I'm just getting my things together," Matthew replied.

The four recruits looked at each other in confusion. Why was he getting his things together? They got up and walked over to Matthew.

"A-are you going somewhere, sir?" Lee asked.

"Yeah, I'm leaving," Matthew answered. "I'm going back to Ventura. I'm done training you guys,"

"What?" the four said in unison, drawing a few heads in their direction. "W-why?"

At this word, Matthew went wide-eyed. In the past six months he had been here, he had never actually told the recruits _why _he had been sent here in the first place. They had assumed he was a sergeant or a soldier sent to train them, but now they had been proved wrong. He set his bag down on his bed and rubbed the back of his head nervously with his hand as he faced his squad of recruits.

"Um…well…you see, guys," he said, finding it hard trying to word it all. "I…well, I wasn't really…here to…actually train you. I mean, I was here to train you, but not…not as a priority,"

"Then, why were you sent here?" Edward asked.

"Well, I was sent here to train you…because…well, I was blamed for an accident, but it was not seen as an accident."

"Oh," the squad looked at one another for a moment before Lee sighed.

"Well, we'll be seeing you, sir," he said and they turned to walk back to their table.

"No, wait! Guys!" Matthew closed his backpack and placed it over his shoulders. "It's been good training you, it really has, but-"

"Then why don't you stay?" Lee asked him, interrupting him mid-sentence. "It's only another two more weeks, sir!"

"I know that, but…but you guys can make it without me!"

"Yes, okay, we might be able to, but… But we were hoping you would stay with us,"

Matthew laughed a little. "What, the whole time. Why? I do have a life to get back to as well, guys!"

"We know that, sir, but It's not fair if you just left us with only two weeks left!" Tommy piped up

"It's not fair!" Matthew's voice began to rise and more people in the barracks were looking at them. "Okay, you tell me how It's not fair!"

"Because you changed us!" Edward said, taking over the conversation. "You stuck by us! I mean, if any other commander had been assigned to train us when we arrived, he would have just left us at the hands of someone else! But you didn't do that, sir! You stood by us and you changed us from an arguing bunch of recruits to a team that works well and that has become friends with each other! As much training we have done, we still need you, sir!"

Matthew shook his head. "I'm sorry, guys! I can't stay here. I've got my old friends to get back to,"

Lee sighed. "Then, we'll be seeing you," he said lowly and they turned and walked back over to their table.

"Oh, c'mon. Guys!" he sighed. "You know I have to back to my old life!"

"Then go, who's stopping you?" Edward replied and they all sat down and resumed looking at their things, though with a lot less enthusiasm.

Matthew sighed and walked down the barracks towards the door, which opened automatically for him. When he reached it, he turned and looked back at the group, hoping for them to, at least, say goodbye or wish him good luck. They did neither, or even look up at him. Heaving another heavy sigh, Matthew turned and walked out of the barracks, the door closing behind him.

_It's not fair! They're stupid! _He mentally said to himself. _I have a right to go back to my old life! And besides, I wasn't even here to train them until they finished! No, I have to, and I will go!_

Matthew half walked, half stormed across the ground towards the airfield where a pelican was waiting. As he passed the first hanger building, he saw the craft waiting, silhouetted by the light coming from the hanger's lights. A pilot was standing at the end of the craft, talking to two other pilots and smoking a cigarette.

Matthew walked over towards the pelican, feeling the urge for him to get out of here as quickly as possible. The pilot saw him coming.

"You Matthew?" he asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

The pilot dropped the cigarette on the ground and crushed it out with his foot. "Hop on," he turned to the pilots. "See you guys later," he said to them and they nodded and walked back towards one of the nearby barracks buildings.

Matthew walked over to the pelican and climbed on board, sitting down on one of the seats and putting his bag on the seat next to him. The pilot climbed on board and walked down to the cog pit.

"We'll be ready to launch in a few minutes," he said as he passed Matthew, who nodded in reply.

As Matthew rested his back against the wall of the pelican, a strange feeling began to surge through him. It felt like...it was…

Guilt. He felt really guilty. The recruits were right. He should have stayed with them until the end of their training. B-but he wanted to go back to his old life. This had only been a punishment, not a full priority!

_No _a voice said in his mind. _Edward told you that they had changed because of you. You have to stay! You have to!_

"What do I do?" Matthew asked himself, muttering.

What was he to do? Was he to stay with them, or go? It was only another two weeks, though. Surely he could last just another fourteen days here and help finish their training! But, what of his old life? He was only sent here because he had been blamed for something that was completely an accident and he had served his punishment, even when it had been extended! He had a right to go!

"Alright, we're taking off in a few seconds," the pilot called from the cog pit.

Matthew sighed. What was he to do? Was he to stay and finish these recruits' training or go back to his old life and be with his friends?


	14. I'm staying

The pelican lifted off into the air and flew away in to the dark sky of the night. The front and rear lights of the craft had been turned on to light the way in front of the craft. The entrance to the craft was closed and it flew on away from the base, disappearing into the night sky, heading off to take It's passenger somewhere.

Inside the barracks, the four still sat silently around the table. They had barely said a word since Matthew had walked out and left them. A few other marines wanted to go over and talk to them but they eventually decided to leave them and let them have a few moments alone.

"I can't believe it," Samuel said as he placed the map of the area of Rodum from where he came from back on the table. "I can't believe he just left us,"

"I know," Lee replied. "What I can't believe was that he was here to serve a punishment. He didn't want to be here,"

The other three nodded in agreement. "So who do you think will be training us now?" Edward asked.

"I dunno," Lee replied. "Let's just hope he sticks with us,"

"Don't worry," a voice said, making them jump. "I will,"

The four looked up and saw a familiar face standing at the end of the table. It was Matthew. His bag was back on his bed. What was he doing back here?

"What are you doing back here?" Edward asked. "I thought you'd left us,"

Matthew shook his head. "I wanted to get back to my old life," he said. "But, when I boarded that pelican I realised that I was leaving behind a group of people that really meant something to me. You guys, you really made me see that training a squad is…something that is exciting," he knelt down at the end of the table. "I'm sorry, guys," he said. "Will you let me lead you guys in finishing your training?"

The four looked at each other questionably. Were they to forgive him? Should they let him lead them in finishing their training? They leaned their heads in close together so Matthew could not hear what they were saying.

"What do think we should do?" Lee whispered.

"Well, he's saying he's sorry and he wants to lead us again," Edward replied.

"Yeah, but come on, he did want to leave and he did admit he was only here just because he was serving a punishment," Samuel piped up.

"Yeah, and what if he changes his mind?" Tommy asked.

"He won't," Lee told them.

"Well, how can you be sure?"

"I just know he won't. Okay?"

"Lee's right," Edward intervened. "He won't leave us again,"

"I hope your right," Samuel said to him.

Matthew watched them nervously. He had said sorry to them and asked them to accept him as their leader again. Well, would they? Would they accept him as their leader for the last part of their training? After about ten seconds, they looked back at Matthew and smiled.

"Of course, sir," Lee replied. "And, thanks, for seeing sense," he added.

Matthew smiled back and, breathing a just noticeable sigh of relief, stood up.

"Thanks, guys," he said. "Well, I have to go tell the High Command I'll be staying here to finish your training,"

"Sir," the four said in unison with a nod.

Matthew walked back down the barracks towards the door and walked outside. He smiled at himself. Wow! He had been expecting them to shun him, but the complete opposite had happened, and he was proud that it did. He was happy they let him be their leader once again and he mentally promised himself that he _would_ complete their training. After all, even if it was a punishment, which was what he had been brought here for. Oh, the next few weeks were going to be great in finishing the recruits' training and watching them finally become marines in the UNSC.

Well, now he would just have to worry about the officer's reaction of when he told him that he had changed his mind in deciding to stay rather than leave. Hopefully, he would not be too angry.


	15. Fall of St Angel

**Four months later**

**Location: St. Angel village, Teilya province, Eucia**

**75 miles south of Sura**

**Date: June 24****th****, 2551**

The following two weeks of Matthew's training of the recruits passed by very quickly, but they were still amazing. With their effort in working as a team, the recruits had completed the training exercise in saving a hostage and had even passed the No Man's Land replica of a warzone, something which was a final test to show whether they were ready or not to pass into the UNSC. With their training at hand and their encouragement from Matthew, they passed and, the next day, were recognized as UNSC marines. What was more, they had all fully accepted him as their leader during the last days of their training.

After that, Matthew had planned on bringing the recruits with him to Ventura, where they were to be based from now on, so he could introduce them to his old friends. However, the officer that had introduced them to one another had decided to get his own back at Matthew for changing his mind on deciding to stay at the base to finish the recruits' training and had told them that they were to wait for a few weeks for a pelican to take them to Ventura, even though there were many free pelican rides a lot earlier. Luckily, the weeks had sailed by quickly, and what was more, Emily had started making contact with Matthew again and he was happy that she had.

Things were going well for him and the future looked bright for him, which was the same for the weather as winter began to draw to an end and the planet had entered March. It was already beginning to get warmer and the sun was beginning to make more of an appearance.

However, things quickly took a turn for the worse, but not just for Matthew, but for every Human being in the galaxy, and it happened on March 3rd.

From around about midday, word began to spread of something big occurring on Kurar and Umeda. At first, it was believed to be just a weather problem on the planets, but when they heard of a fleet being destroyed above Kurar and Kurar and Umedia being destroyed by fire, people began to get more suspicious, and worried. They were asking themselves and anyone else: what was going on?

Then, later that day, Humanity received the reason why these disasters were happening. President Samuel made an emergency speech, which was broadcasted on every plane, to say that they were at war, and what was worse; it was with an alien coalition that simply called itself, the Covenant. They were made up of seven alien races called Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Hunters, Drones, Brutes and Prophets and they did not come in peace. Declaring Humanity as an affront to their Gods, they launched a deadly war of attrition against the Human race to destroy them, and they certainly lived up to their intent when they would glass the planet, which would see the repeats of what had happened to Kurar and Umeda.

The war had been devastating just within the first few weeks. Just two months after the war began, Vorgra and Idlem had fallen to the Covenant and just earlier this month, Lupo and Admiral Kincaid and his fleet of four battleships and two cruisers were destroyed by the Covenant fleet. Now, the Covenant had set their sights on Eucia and Eucia II in order to make a clear path to Takra, the main planet of the Niobe Aino system, which was already under attack but only by a small fleet and as long as Eucia and Eucia II remained under Human control, they posed a threat to any large Covenant fleet hoping to strike Takra.

However, these two planets were proving to be hard nuts to crack. Although they were not as populated, their terrain with many mountains and remote areas were perfect for the defending UNSC marines and guerrilla forces to flee to. However, the defence of Eucia had come at a very high price for Humanity. Sura city had fallen after a seventeen day battle and things had not gotten any better when Ventura had fallen prey to an assault carrier.

Now, however, the Covenant were laying siege to the Teilya province, which was mostly made up of small towns and villages, and for the past three days St. Angel, once one of the most beautiful villages on the planet, had been turned into a war zone.

Among the ruins of a florist, a group of four marines, one of them who had a radio on his back, who had their weapons, which were battle rifles, raised, walked around the ruins of the cash register table, which had been broken in two by a fallen wooden beam from the floor above. Apparently, a mortar blast from a wraith had struck the roof and caused the attic and the floor above to collapse. Outside, the squad could hear the sounds of battle raging in other parts of the village.

Leading the squad was Matthew, though he looked a lot older than he did. He was exhausted by the relentless fighting and lack of sleep he had gotten over the past few months. The areas around his eyes were red and he had bits of dirt and bruise marks over his body. He had fought from many various locations on Lupo and Idlem and was now back on Eucia, having fought in Sura and Ventura. However, he had almost gotten into trouble during the battle of Sura when he left to search for Emily in the remains of the city's hospital and found it almost completely obliterated by the Covenant attack. Thankfully, he found out from a UNSC medic still remaining at the hospital that she had been evacuated shortly before the hospital was destroyed, but as he tried to get back to the battle a UNSC officer saw him but, by a strange stroke of luck, a Jackal sniper picked off the officer. Matthew was happy about this, not obviously about the officer's death because it was horrible when he saw his head get blown open but he had managed to avoid getting court marshalled and have himself forcefully removed from the city and put in a military prison.

As the four reached a large hole at the front of the shop where the entrance had once been before it was destroyed by a banshee ion blast, Matthew looked out into the main street, which had large craters scattered around it and was covered with rubble from nearby buildings or destroyed vehicles, both UNSC and Covenant. There were even several bodies of UNSC marines, civilians and fallen Covenant soldiers scattered about.

Matthew looked across the street and saw the house there had been blown in two but it appeared to be empty. He looked left down the main street towards where the remains of the water tower were still standing, and then he looked right, again down the main street, to see the remains of a UNSC pelican lying in the road from where it had been shot down. The plasma scarring was visible across the side.

"Alright," Matthew said, turning back to the squad. "We'll make a run for the house across the street and try and contact HQ there,"

"Did you see any Covenant?" the marine with the radio, who had brown hair and blue eyes and looked to be about twenty four, asked.

"No, and I hope it stays that way," Matthew replied.

"I hope so too," the marine who was knelt down in front of Matthew muttered.

Matthew looked down at the marine. It was Edward. Matthew and the other two marines had found him last night in the ruins of another pelican that had been shot down and fallen onto the town hall building. He was the last member of his squad left alive and Matthew decided to take him under his wing once again.

They were no longer with Tommy, Samuel or Lee, or had heard anything from them for that matter. In fact, when the war began, they were all split up into different squads and sent to different parts of Vorgra or Lupo. It was hard in adapting to the fact that they were all separated from each other and not knowing whether they were going to live one day and then die the next. It was just not easy.

"Alright, get ready and keep your eyes open," Matthew ordered. The squad nodded and checked their weapons to make sure they were loaded. When they were done, Matthew took one more look left and right down the street before he said: "Alright, let's move, and be careful,"

The four marines walked out of the florist, their weapons raised and their fingers on the triggers, ready to fire at any Covenant forces they were to come across. In the distance, they heard an explosion, followed by, what they were just able to make out, blast and gunfire. By the sounds of it, a gunfight was raging and it was getting closer. They had to move quickly!

**XXXXX**

At the top of the remains of the village water tower, a Covenant soldier with brownish-like skin with a grey vest over It's chest, spiked up hair across the top of It's head, sharp claws on both It's hands and feet and had a beak for a mouth, which made the creature look like a bird, climbed onto the top of what had been the walkway that went around the side of the water tower. It was a Jackal. In It's hand was a long silver weapon with a circle-like section about half-way down the weapon. It was a beam rifle, a very deadly sniper used by the Covenant.

The Jackal scratched It's chin and gazed around the ruins of the village. The water tower was only about thirty five feet high and the walkway went up about twenty eight, but it could see quite clearly over the remains of the building tops. Smoke rose from many of them and a few blasts shot up into the sky every now and then. The Jackal had come here on orders to make sure it picked off any UNSC marine or civilian stragglers without any mercy, something that it gladly accepted. With It's amazing eye sight, hearing and beam rifle, anything that was not Covenant that passed by was as good as dead.

Then, It's eyes rested on movement about two hundred feet away. Squinting It's orange eyes a little, the creature looked at the movement closer and saw it was four figures, and these four figures were not Covenant, no. They were too small to be Hunters and not nearly bulky enough to be Elites or Brutes. They were also too tall and thin to be Grunts and Jackals and they were not flying so they were not Drones, and they were definitely not the Prophets as they were back on _High Charity_, the Covenant home world. If they were not Covenant…then they had to be…the Jackal looked in closer. They were Humans!

The Jackal growled a little in excitement and raised It's beam rifle. Four kills, all out of cover and easy pickings! Oh, this was going to be fun!

**XXXXXXXX**

The four marines' eyes travelled around the entire street, keeping an eye on everything to make sure that no Covenant forces would try and surprise them.

"What are the UNSC gonna do about St. Angel?" the marine with the radio asked.

"No doubt, abandon it," Matthew replied. "We've lost a lot men here and we can't really afford to bring in more,"

BOOM! An explosion erupted overhead. The four looked up to see a banshee shoot down over the house the squad were moving to and explode about a second later. A trail of smoke hung in the air from where the Covenant craft had been set on fire by a missile colliding into the back of the craft. Then, the sound of a jet whoosh filled the air and a UNSC long sword fighter flew overhead. However, behind it were three Covenant seraph fighters.

"Good luck," Edward said to the long sword pilot as if he could hear him and he watched as the long sword fighter disappeared in a cloud of smoke emanating from a burning building about three hundred feet away, the seraph fighters firing away at it in an attempt to shoot it down.

"Yeah," the soldier with the radio replied. "They're gonna nee-"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

Suddenly, the soldier in front of the marine with the radio and behind Edward fell to the ground, a hissing hole in the side of his head. Blood poured from the wound and he moved no more. He was dead.

"GET BEHIND COVER!" Matthew yelled as another purple laser shot overhead, narrowly missing Edward's head.

Matthew dived behind a pile of rubble that had been from the house they were moving to, Edward hid behind a destroyed warthog and the marine with the radio dived behind a ghost that had been torn in two by an explosion.

"Where the Hell did that come from?" Edward asked.

"From the left," the marine with the radio replied.

Matthew looked up from behind his cover and saw the remains of the water tower. _That's where I would be _he thought as he ducked back down behind his cover again.

"I think he's at the water tower," he said to Edward and the marine with the radio. "No doubt It's a Jackal," he added.

"So what are we gonna do?" the marine with the radio asked him. "We try and move and we're dead,"

Matthew looked up from behind his cover at the water tower remains and then back at the two remaining men of his squad, who were waiting for an answer.

"Alright," Matthew said after a few seconds. "I'll fire on the water tower and when I do, you run to the house. Don't stop for anything, just run, okay,"

The two men nodded. Matthew rose slightly and aimed his weapon at the water tower remains.

"Alright, when I say go, run!" he said. The two nodded and got ready to move. "Alright, three, two, one…GO!"

Matthew fired several bursts of ammo at the water tower remains. Edward and the marine with the radio ran as fast as they could past him towards the house. However, as they reached hole in the front of the house, a purple beam shot out from the water tower towards them.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

"EDWARD!"

The marine with the radio grabbed his comrade and pulled him into the house, narrowly avoiding another purple beam that hit the wall. Matthew, still firing at the water tower, ran towards the house and dived the last few feet into it.

"Is he alright?" he asked as he got up.

The marine with the radio set Edward down on half-burned sofa that he had moved in front of the flight of stairs just behind the front door. Blood was pouring from the wound on Edward's side from where the beam had hit him.

"Go and find some bandages," he said to the marine, who nodded and ran left through a doorway; the door was lying on the floor broken in two, into the kitchen.

Matthew knelt down next to Edward and took his hand in his.

"You'll be alright, Edward," he said.

Edward managed to force a smile onto his face. "You were always hopeful, weren't you, sir,"

Matthew chuckled a little in reply. "Yeah, and you don't have to call me sir anymore," he said. "You can just call me Matt, or Matthew. You know that don't you,"

"Argh! O-of course…I-I do! But I just find it…easier calling you sir… After all, you did train us for like a y-year,"

Matthew nodded a little in agreement. At that moment, the marine with the radio came back into the room with a few bandages and some painkiller. Not really total painkilling morphine, but it was good enough to at least relieve Edward of the pain for a while. As the marine knelt down and was about to start working on Edward, his radio sprang to life.

_"(KZK)… This is the St. Angel FOB base… (KZK)... Anyone copy, over," _a voice from the radio said.

"You go and deal with that, I'll sort out Edward," Matthew said to the marine, who nodded and handed the medical equipment to Matthew and ran over to a nearby table and placed his radio on it.

"St. Angel FOB base, this is Delta squad 035, over," he said.

_"Delta squad 035, what is your current position, over?"_

"We're taking cover in the ruins of the house on the main street and are pinned down by a sniper with a wounded man, over,"

"ARGH! It hurts!" Edward sobbed as Matthew began wrapping the bandages around him.

"Those damn painkillers aren't really of any use, are they," he muttered. He had given Edward two of them and they were slow in acting, as they were to give pain relief instantly. Well, they were the best they had until they got to the FOB, that was _if_ they got it.

"_Delta squad 035, you have been given order to retreat back to the FOB for evacuation. We're abandoning the village. Head over to the village park, over,"_

"Roger that, over and out,"

The voice in the radio went silent and was replaced with static.

"You hear that?" the marine asked Matthew. "We're ordered to get outta here,"

"Right," Matthew replied, nodding. He had finished putting the bandages around Edward's side and the pain killers were beginning to work in relieving him a little.

"Can you stand?" Matthew asked Edward, who nodded and lifted himself up. He was leaning on his side a little but he looked okay and able to walk. Matthew handed him his weapon. "Alright, listen up," he said. "We'll make a run for the park. How far is it from here?"

"About a quarter of a mile, just over the next few blocks," the marine answered.

"Alright, we'll head down the next street to the park." Matthew continued. "Hopefully, the Covenant haven't gotten to it yet,"

"What if they have?" Edward asked him.

Matthew hesitated for a moment before replying: "Then God help us. Alright, let's go,"

Matthew, Edward and the marine with the radio, which he had attached back onto the back of his uniform, ran through the building to another hole on the other side. When they reached the hole, Matthew peeked his head out and looked left towards the water tower.

"Is that sniper still there?" the marine asked him.

Matthew looked around and saw a frying pan lying on the floor near the second entrance to the kitchen next to them. He picked it up and, moving forward a few more inches, held it out in front of him, directly in view of the water tower.

Nothing happened. Matthew withdrew the pan and then held it back out. Still nothing happened. He repeated it two more times and nothing happened. No beam rifle struck the object.

"The Jackal's must have gone," he said to Edward and the marine. "Where, I dunno but I'm not waiting around to find out,"

"Where do we go next?" Edward asked him.

Matthew looked ahead of them and across the street, which turned left at the end and, like the main street, was covered with rubble, craters and destroyed vehicles, both UNSC and Covenant air and ground and the bodies of fallen soldiers, again both UNSC and Covenant, which was just ahead of them, and saw a destroyed corner shop entrance with a small fire raging inside the building. By the looks of it, there was a hole in the wall of the shop opposite the building entrance. If they could get to it, then maybe they could climb through the next building and get through to the park without running into the Covenant.

"Alright, we'll try and go through those buildings to get through the first block," Matthew said to the two men behind him. "If the same thing has happened to the second block, then we'll be able to get to the park without running into any Covenant,"

"Right, let's go," the marine replied, all of a sudden running past Edward and Matthew into the open.

"Wait up!" Matthew exclaimed, but the marine ignored him. He wanted to get out of here as much as they did. Matthew just sighed and followed with Edward right behind him.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Suddenly, the marine fell to the ground as another purple beam struck him in the side of the head. He moved no more. The Jackal was still there!

"CRAP! RUN EDWARD!" Matthew yelled as he fired a barrage at the water power.

Edward ran past Matthew, a lot faster than he had thought even though he was half-limping most of the time as he ran. Matthew joined him, every few steps he turned to fire at the water tower, and he kept low to make himself a harder target for the sniper. Thankfully, they avoided two more shots by the sniper and managed to reach the corner shop. When they did, they collapsed onto the floor and rested their backs against the remains of the wall.

"That was close," Edward said.

"Yeah, it was," Matthew replied. "Is your side okay?" he asked to which Edward nodded at.

Matthew looked to his left and saw that there was a hole in the wall opposite the corner shop entrance. It led into the neighbouring building, which, by the looks of it, was another shop. If they could get through that one to the next block and then get safety through that one, then their path to escape would be clear.

"We better get moving," Matthew said to Edward, who nodded in agreement and got up.

The two ran over to hole and placed themselves against the wall. Matthew, cautiously and silently, crept forward and peeked his head through the hole. He saw another table where the cash register would be broken in two on the floor, the cash register lay smashed next to it. On the wall opposite the hole was a broken window that gave a view of another street and, which was only just visible through the smoke emanating from something on the left, another building that looked like a house.

"Is the area clear?" a deep voice barked from somewhere in the next shop.

Matthew and Edward froze as panic filled them like water filling up a tank. That voice. It was deep, too deep to be an Elite. The only other option was…

"It's a Brute!" Edward whispered.

"Yes, sir," another deep voice replied.

Oh great, there were two of them! One was bad enough, but _two_! They were as good as dead.

"The Human meddlers shot down one of our banshees a few minutes ago!" the first deep voice growled. "I hope our seraph fighters blast the wretched Humans and their pitiful creations out of the sky!"

"As do I, sir," the second voice replied, also in a growling voice. "But at least we have driven them back. This village will soon be ours,"

"Yes, it soon will be. Now where are those wretched Elites?"

"I received a transmission from them that they were pushing through the other side of the village, which they have cleared without too many casualties, and that is a big surprise, and they were preparing to move on an area the Humans call FOB!"

Matthew and Edward went wide-eyed. Oh no, they were going to attack the FOB at the park! Now it was a race against time to get there before the Elites did!

"I find it frustrating that we do not get the privilege of destroying those meddlers ourselves!" the first deep voice growled and a loud bang erupted from the next shop. He probably slammed his fist on a table in there.

"Yes, it is frustrating, sir," the second deep voice replied. "I can only hop the Elites fail and we are sent in to finish the jo-"

Suddenly, the voice stopped and took a loud sniff, which sounded like someone blowing their nose really loud.

"I smell something, sir!" it said.

Another loud sniff filled the air.

"I smell it too!" the first deep voice exclaimed. "Where is it coming from?"

"It is strongest at that hole," the second deep voice said.

Matthew and Edward looked at each other, wide-eyed and Edward mouthed a swear word. Then, loud footfalls filled the air, and they gradually grew louder. They were coming! What were they to do?

"Outside, quick!" Matthew whispered to Edward and the two ran as quickly and as quietly as they could over the remains of the wall that had been next to the wall back out into the street. They then turned right and ran down the street. Just in time as well as no sooner than a second after they began running down the street, the two Brutes emerged from the hole into the shop where Matthew and Edward had been just mere milliseconds earlier. They were lucky, for the moment at least, but they had to get back inside the buildings before any Covenant forces saw them.

The two decided to run on towards the end of the first block, where they came across an intersection. The road carried on ahead towards a park at the end, left towards the north end of the village but it was blocked by the remains of a scorpion tank and right towards the south end of the village, where the ruins of the banshee that had been shot down by the long sword fighter lay. That was also where the smoke was coming from. Matthew looked over at the first building on the left side of the next block and saw it was a house that had been almost virtually destroyed. Only a few walls from the ground floor and parts of the rooms those walls were part of were left. Everything else that had been part of the house (next floors up, staircases, roofs etc.) was either scattered about on the ground floor or in the surrounding streets.

Suddenly, a loud screech filled the air. It was coming from the right. The two looked and saw a Jackal pointing at them, but just as it was about to raise it's shield Matthew fired a burst of ammo at the creature. The Jackal let out another loud screech as it was hit and flew backwards onto the floor, dead.

"What was that?" one of the Brutes shouted from the corner shop.

"I heard a Jackal screech, sir! I think Human soldiers have managed to sneak past us!" the other replied.

"Quick, run!" Matthew said to Edward.

The two ran, Edward half-limping for most of the run, towards the house. As they reached it, they heard a voice shout: "There! Kill them!" followed by the sound of blast fire. Matthew grabbed Edward and threw him and himself behind an overturned cabinet, both narrowly missing a barrage of blue blasts as they flew overhead and hit one of the still standing walls of the room. Edward and Matthew responded by returning fire on the Brutes, who were running towards a destroyed warthog for cover. One of the Brutes was hit and roared loudly as it fell to the ground, dark purple/black blood pouring from a wound on the creature's side. The two reloaded and fired again on the creature as it tried to get up, hitting it in the chest and head, killing it.

Suddenly, the other Brute, enraged over the death of It's comrade, threw down it's weapon and charged towards Matthew and Edward. The two saw the coming danger and quickly reloaded and fired a barrage at the Brute, hitting it numerously but the creature just kept on charging as if the bullets were unable to penetrate the thick rhino-like skin of the Brute. However, just when it was about to reach the front wall of the remains of the house, it finally gave in to the relentless barrage and fell to the ground, dead.

Matthew stood up from behind the cabinet.

"We better get outta here quickly!" he said Edward, who nodded in agreement.

The two ran out of the house, through where the back door had been, and back into the street, but they ran along the pavement alongside the remains of the other house so they would be out of the prying eyes of any snipers. As they neared the end of the road, the remains of the park stone wall became visible through a cloud of smoke. Then, just beyond a few burning trees and vehicles, were several large shapes. Pelicans! They were almost there!

WHOOSH! BOOM! The two screeched to a halt and dived to the ground as a tank shell flew right from behind the remains of the house next to them and continued on left down the street, disappearing behind the remains of a digital book shop. A second later, another explosion filled the air and the two watched as the remains of what looked to be a purple metallic seat went shooting up into the air and landed across the park. A ghost had been destroyed and the Covenant soldier piloting it must have been completely obliterated by the blast.

Then, as Matthew and Edwards stood up, they felt the ground rumble and a large shape moved out from behind the remains of the house. It was a scorpion tank. The main cannon turned to face them and a small hatch just below the main cannon opened up and a thirty year old looking marine greeted them.

"You guys got here just in time!" he said to them. "The last of the pelicans are leaving. I'd move it if I were you,"

Matthew nodded. "Thanks, man," he said and he and Edward ran past the tank and through a hole in the stone wall into the park. As they passed underneath the burning trees, a few branches fell and almost struck them as if they were trying to stop them from leaving. Luckily, the two dodged them and made it safely to the FOB.

The FOB in the park was more like a small camp. It had several tents scattered about in the middle of the park, between some of them were a few warthogs, both machine gun and flak cannon, and deployable machine gun turret teams, with the remains of a small deployable cube shaped building on the left edge of the FOB just next to two machine gun warthogs. In the middle of the FOB were several pelicans, some parked, others preparing or were taking off. Marines and officers were running around, either giving orders or trying to evacuate the wounded or the few remaining civilians that had not been evacuated in time.

"You two!" a voice shouted.

Matthew and Edward looked over their shoulders to see a tall and heavily built marine sergeant running up to them.

"Who are you guys?" he asked them.

"Delta squad 035," Matthew answered. "Or what's left of it," he added.

"Okay, well get on board one of the pelicans while you still got a chance," he told them. "The Covenant are stepping up their assault on this base,"

The sergeant ran over to another group of marines that had taken up positions behind the remains of a destroyed pelican. Matthew and Edward ran over to a nearby pelican and ran around the craft to the back where several marines and medics were loading the wounded, with the help of several able marines in the pelican's resting area, into the craft. They were about to board, but another marine sergeant stopped them.

"We can't too many," he said. "One of you is gonna have to get on another pelican,"

"What!" Matthew exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, soldier, but we're late in getting out of here as it is," the sergeant replied. "And in fact, we need you on here as we don't have enough able bodied marines, so get on un less you want to be left here,"

Matthew turned to Edward. "You'll be alright, won't you?" he asked him worryingly.

"Yeah, sir," he replied. "You get on; I'll get on another pelican. I'll be alright,"

Matthew nodded and climbed on the pelican. Edward gave him a salute goodbye and ran/limped over to another nearby pelican, which was not as packed as the pelican Matthew was on. This time, he was accepted and, with the help of another marine, climbed onto the pelican and disappeared from sight, Matthew sighed in relief. He was safe. They were safe. Now they just had to get out of here.

"Alright, hang on," the pilot shouted from the cog pit. "We're taking off,"

The craft jolted slightly as it rose into the air. Matthew watched and waited for the pelican Edward was on to do the same. After a few seconds, it also began to rise into the air. As his pelican rose higher and higher into the air, Matthew caught a quick glimpse of the burning and war torn village of St. Angel. Even though it was virtually destroyed, there was still a lot of fighting taking place. It was amazing to see, however, that most of it was still quite far from the FOB, obviously meaning that there were some units self-sacrificing themselves to try and hold back the Covenant tide to allow their comrades to escape.

BOOM! Another explosion lit up the area, though it was a lot closer than usual, and that was because it was coming from the pelican Edward was on!

"NOOOOOOO!" Matthew yelled.

_"This is Echo 196, we've taken a hit to our rear engines and left wing!"_

The craft began to spin wildly around it mid-air as the pilot struggled to gain control of the ship. Matthew and the others on the pelican, all of who were shouting at the pelican or silently praying it would land, could only watch and do nothing as their comrades were being drawn to death right in front of them.

BOOM! Another explosion erupted on the other wing as a banshee flew overhead. It had fired an ion blast. The pelican immediately began flying erratically over the ruins of the buildings where Matthew and Edward had just come from.

_"Mayday! Mayday! This is Echo 196, we are going down! I repeat, we are going d-"_

CRASH! The pelican crashed into a nearby building, followed by an explosion that lit up the whole area.

"NOOOOOOO!" everyone on Matthew's pelican seemed to yell.

It was horrible seeing your friends and comrades die right in front of you and you could not help them, especially if they were wounded and had very little chance of escaping or defending themselves. For Matthew, it was so horrible in seeing a young recruit he had once trained so hard and that he had come to like as a friend die suddenly that he…he was just lost for words. He just stared at the wreckage with disbelief in his eyes as if he could not believe this was happening.

The pelican finally flew away from the FOB and into the distance. Within a few seconds, the entire St. Angel village was visible to those in the resting area and they looked on to see what had been one of Eucia's most beautiful places burning and turned into a warzone in no more than about 75 hours of fighting, and it was still going on, though the defenders in the village knew it was lost.

With St. Angel now under Covenant control, much of Eucia would fall and very soon the rest of the planet would fall with it.


	16. The old rivalry returns

**Later that day**

**Henderson airfield, 25 miles outside St. Angel village**

Henderson airfield was the oldest airfield on Eucia. Constructed in 2467, it had four main hangers with airstrips that formed a type of cross, resembling it to an old Japanese airfield built on Peleliu Island during the Second World War. Two old terminal buildings were on the left side of the airfield, indicating that this airfield had once been an airport before it closed down and was given to the UNSC in 2505, who converted into an airfield. A few smaller rectangular and cube shaped buildings were scattered about the outskirts of the airfield. These were either small medical hospitals or army HQ buildings or offices.

Today, however, the base was in a frenzy of activity, like it had been for the past three days. Pelicans had been arriving and leaving every few seconds, either taking men to the battle raging at St Angel, at least until about half an hour ago when the base received word that the village was being abandoned and the medics here had been busy for the last three days sorting out the wounded. Many marines and a few civilians that had not been evacuated in time had died both at the village and here at the airfield, and it was obvious the UNSC was going to have to leave the airfield and flee to the safety of the Galactic Evacuation Centre where they would get onto ships and be taken to join their comrades fighting on Euica II or to Takra.

Another pelican was coming in now. It was smoking from the left wing after it had sustained damage from running into a group of Covenant seraph fighters. Thankfully, a few UNSC long sword fighters were nearby so the pelican got away safely with no casualties. The craft descended towards the ground as it approached. When it was about twenty feet above the ground, it slowed to a halt and It's landing gear unfolded either side of the pelican entrance and they touched down onto the ground, bringing the pelican to a halt. The able bodied men on board got off and helped in unloading the wounded and taking them to nearby medics, who were already overflowing with wounded victims of the fighting.

Matthew, who was unloading the wounded from the craft, had been silent the entire trip. In St. Angel, he had witnessed a young soldier, who he had once trained and was a good friend of him, be killed on a pelican that had been attempting to take off from the village. This event had really affected him. He had lost one of the four men in the team of recruits he had spent months training with, and it had made him think of something horrible. He had not heard of the other recruits he had trained for the past four months and Edward's death made him think: _What if they've died? What if they've suffered the same fate as Edward? _Those thoughts made him shudder in terror, believing strongly that all the other recruits he had trained have probably been killed by now.

After a few minutes of unloading all of the wounded, Matthew walked over towards one of the small cube shaped buildings. When he reached it, he rested his back against it and slid down to the floor and just stared on ahead of him as if he were in a trance.

_What am I gonna do? _He thought helplessly. _What am I to do?_

What was he to do? He had lost one of his recruits in St. Angel and now he was worrying about the other three on whether they were alive or not. But what if they were not alive? What if they were dead? If they were, Matthew would not be able to live with that.

"Hey, Matthew," someone said.

Matthew looked ahead of him and saw a familiar face walking towards him. It was an ODST. It was Dylan, but he looked to be older than he did as he, like Matthew, had gotten very little sleep over the past few weeks and was tired from constantly fighting the Covenant. However, he did not look like he was in the mood for squaring up to him. In fact, he smiled a little at Matthew in an attempt to make friends.

Matthew did not return it. "What the Hell to do you want, Dylan?" he growled. "If you've come here to piss me off, don't even try it,"

"I haven't come here to be mean to you, Matt," he replied.

"Then go away! Go on before I punch you!"

"Look, Matthew, I came over…to say…thanks,"

"For what?"

"For…helping me overcome…my claustrophobia. I don't really suffer from it anymore."

"Well, isn't that good," Matthew began to add a more sarcastic tone to his voice. "You've been okay, where as I've been in a god damn Hell hole for the past three days and I've lost one of my men,"

Dylan paused for a few seconds before he sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, I…I heard what happened," he said. "I'm sorry, Matt. He was good soldier. A real brave soldier,"

Matthew glared at Dylan. "What did you say?" he asked dangerously.

"I…said he was a good and brave soldier," Dylan repeated.

Matthew shot up from the ground and, clenching his hands into fists, stepped towards Dylan, who actually looked scared and backed away a little.

"What's the matter with you?" he asked him. "Why are you so angry?"

"I'll tell you why, Dylan," Matthew replied. "You coming out with this…" he began to mock Dylan's voice. "'Oh, he was a good soldier and was very brave as well' crap! And yet, only a few months earlier, you were taking the piss out of me and him and the other three recruits! You even said you wanted Edward to die because he was, what was it you called him, oh yeah, a disgrace to the UNSC! Well do you know what, you can stuff this crap of yours and you can get lost. You telling me you're sorry and that Edward was a good soldier just proves to me you are nothing but an idiot and a liar!"

Dylan stared at Matthew, unable to believe what he was hearing. He had been offering his deepest sympathy to him for losing a comrade and a real close friend, and for once he actually meant it because he accepted what he had done in the past to Matthew and his recruits was a bad thing. Then, he glared at Matthew but did not clench his fists or made any move to look threatening or intimidating.

"You know, I can't believe I'm doing this," he said as he turned to walk away. "I'll be seeing you, Matt,"

"Don't count on it!" Matthew replied and Dylan just sighed and shook his head a little and walked away.

Matthew turned and kicked the wall of the building hard several times to get rid of his anger. _He is such a freaking idiot! He is such a freaking idiot! _Then, he sighed and slumped down onto the ground and rested his back against the wall of the building and watched as Dylan disappeared amongst the crowds of men working on unloading the wounded from another two pelicans that had just arrived back at the base.

The old rivalry between the two had ensued again, and this time it looked like it was not going to be settled at all.


	17. Another person gone

**Three weeks later**

**July 15****th****, 2551**

**Location: Vico Island, Tethys sea, Eucia II**

The Covenant advance across Eucia had been unstoppable and destructive. Thousands of marines and civilians were killed in the fighting, along with many Covenant soldiers, and the planet, like Umeda, Kurar, Lupo and others before it, was glassed. Estimated deaths from the glassing were believed to be in the millions, but it was not over yet. With Eucia out of the way, the Covenant could now concentrate their attacks and focus on Eucia II, the last barrier before the most populated world of Takra, where the Covenant were slowly being defeated, and would be unless reinforcements came soon.

Eucia II was much like It's sister planet, or what had been It's sister planet before It's destruction. It was peaceful and had many farms, forests, islands, both mountainous and tropical, and open fields. However, it had more cities than Eucia, but it was careful not to make too many and make the planet lose It's tropical paradise location in the system.

However, now it was in a time of chaos. The Covenant was already attacking several parts of Eucia II, mainly to the Triconta region and It's capitol, Ulyara, a city of about 2.3 million people. Plus, things were not made any better by the amount of refugees that had fled to Eucia II from Eucia, and soon, as everyone knew that Eucia II would not be able to hold out long against the Covenant tide, Takra would be facing another refugee swarm from Eucia II to it, and then Takra would follow the same way, that is if it was not destroyed too quickly.

On the island of Vico, which was a large circular shaped island with a triangle point at the north end, making it look like a type of spire sticking out some strange alien spherical structure, with a small mountain in the middle that was surrounded by woodland on the left side and open fields with several farms and a small town on the other. About a mile from the town, on the western coast of the island, was a small port town for both trade and visitors, or it had been. Now, it was being used to help get people across the Tethys sea, as there were not enough pelicans and transport ships available to take the refugees off the island to the mainland continent forty miles away as they were either taking men too or from the battle, some of the men being brought back were those who had been killed, or were already evacuating civilians and wounded to safety, to the cities of Lura and Koti. The UNSC had even set up a small base here as they believed the Covenant would try and attack any area where there were a large amount of refugees, and they were certain Vico would be on their hit list.

The UNSC base on Vico was made up of a large rectangular building with three large towers sticking out of the top of it, forming a triangle shape between them and each having a small AA turret on the top of it, with a large dome-like top in the middle of the triangle formation of the towers. Scattered around it was a small make shift hospital made up of a small cube shaped building and several tents with a few tables scattered around outside them, some of them holding wounded, and the remains of what had been a small platform before it had been struck by a seraph fighter that was on a scouting mission earlier today, which was another reason why there was a bit of a rush to get everyone off the island.

"Get those wounded on that pelican!"

"Sir, we don't have enough room for all of them,"

"Look, we got reports of Covenant heading this way so we need to get everyone out of here. So do it. NOW!"

(sigh) "Yes, sir,"

Matthew watched a marine ran over to the small hospital and talk to a few medics. He had a pair of binoculars in his hands and he was sitting on top of a branch of a nearby tree, looking out across the enormous sea around the island for any signs of the approaching Covenant threat heading this way.

It had been a hard three weeks since Edward's death. Just earlier on this week, he finally heard of the others, and it was not good at all. Tommy was also dead, having been killed by a sniper, and Lee and Samuel were missing, both also presumed dead, and to make things worse, he had not heard from Emily for a long time and he was scared she was dead as well. Sighing, he resumed looking through the binoculars out to sea.

Then, a large shape flew overhead. Matthew looked up and saw it was another pelican, coming from the direction of Triconta to the east. The craft stopped in a small clearing about twenty feet from the make shift hospital and descended towards the ground, It's landing gear unfolding and bring the craft to a halt as it touched down on the ground. A group of three marines on board the craft jumped down onto the ground and, with the help of a few other marines that came over from the make shift hospital, unloaded the wounded and took them over to the hospital for treatment. Matthew watched them unload the first few, some of them covered with blood stained bandages, and take them over to the hospital where a medic examined them and said, though Matthew could not hear him over the noise of the activity going on all around him, something and some would stay whilst others would be taken into a large tent, one of the largest in the make shift hospital area, and would not emerge afterwards.

_KZK "We got reports of Covenant seraph fighters and phantoms heading over the Tethys in the direction of Vico Island," _a voice, that Matthew recognized as a newsperson, said from a nearby radio on the ground a few metres from the tree where a group of four marines were. _"UNSC officials have also reported that Covenant ships have been reported outside Itoka city. All civilian personal in the city have been advised to evacuate. I repeat-"_

Matthew sighed in defeat. It was already for Eucia II. He knew that the Covenant would not end this assault until the planet was destroyed, something which he and everyone else knew _would _happen. The UNSC on Eucia II were mainly here to try and hold out for as long as they could until evacuation ships were ready on Takra for the mass evacuation to Humanity's home system where the UNSC hoped they would be safe.

Another large shape flew overhead. It was another pelican and it landed next to the first pelican that had landed a few moments ago. A sergeant ran over to a marine, that had finished unloading the wounded from the first pelican, and said something to him. The marine nodded and ran over to the group near the tree Matthew was on.

"We need some extra hands to unload the wounded," he said to them and three of the marines stood up.

"You know who's been brought in?" Matthew heard one of the marines ask as they ran over towards the pelicans.

"A load of soldiers from Triconta," the marine that had run over to them replied. "Got word an ODST unit sent in to hold out was massacred,"

Upon hearing this, Matthew turned and looked over at the hospital. Just as he did, a soldier dressed in a thick looking army uniform was placed down on a table. A medic examined him for a second before he said something and two marines took the soldier and carried him into a nearby tent, emerging a moment later.

_What if that was… _Matthew mentally said to himself. He would have to see for himself.

He climbed down the tree and ran over to the tent, having to run towards one of the pelicans as he headed towards the hospital to make out as if he was going over to help. When he finally reached the tent, he quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching and walked inside.

His breath was taken from him. Placed in hover tubes were bodies, one to each tube. Even though the stench of the body was concealed within the tube, Matthew began to feel a bit sick as if he could smell the stench emanating from them.

Then, his eyes rested on a particular body in a tube along the right wall near him. He walked over and saw it was an ODST. He instantly recognized the face of the fallen soldier as he reached the tube.

It was Dylan.

He looked a right mess. He had blood stained bandages around his stomach, which Matthew could just see through a tear in his uniform, and there were bruise marks across his face and neck, along with several cuts. His skin was also a little more paler than before and there was a huge scorch black mark across his chest. By the looks of it, a blast mark must have struck him and killed him instantly.

Matthew sighed and rested a hand on the lid of the tube.

"I'm sorry, Dylan," he said quietly. "I'm sorry for what I said to you. And, thanks for offering your sympathy,"

He moved his hand off the tube. It was actually very sad. Even though this man had bullied him and picked on him in the past and had treated him and Matthew's recruits with disrespect and even prolonged Matthew's punishment sentence, but he had offered his sympathy over Edward's death, which was probably in return for Matthew helping Dylan overcome his claustrophobia during the training on Eucia, and Matthew, for the first time since he last helped Dylan on Eucia, felt sorry for him. He felt really guilty as well for what he had said to Dylan when he had offered his sympathy for Edward. Now he really wished he could go back and stop that from happening, but wishing was not going to solve this. It had already happened and that was it. Nothing could change it.

"_All forces and civilians are to evacuate the island immediately. Covenant forces are approaching! I repeat, Covenant are approaching Vico!" _

Matthew sighed and walked back towards the tent entrance. Just as he reached it, he turned and took one more look back at Dylan's tube and sighed once more and pulled back the flap and walked out of the tent, the flap falling back into place and blocking Matthew from view.

Another person he knew was gone, and, as he walked towards the pelicans, he wondered who would be next out of the people he knew and if they would die or not.


	18. Joining the taskforce

**Eight months later**

**Date: March 3****rd****, 2552**

**Location: Taskforce base, Reach, Niobe Aino system.**

The past eight months were nothing but defeat after defeat for Humanity. No matter what they did to try and stem the flow of Covenant forces, their enemy's superior technology and numbers just simply overwhelmed them and left nothing but death and destruction.

Just a month after the fall of Eucia, It's sister planet Eucia II fell to the Covenant onslaught and, like what happened to Eucia and other worlds before it, the Covenant glassed the planet, leaving the death toll to be in millions. Then, the Covenant launched an all-out invasion of Takra. The fighting there lasted for months, claiming millions on both sides until, in January earlier this year, the last of the defences and UNSC personal on the planet were destroyed and the surface of Takra was glassed. This was the most costly battle in the entire war to date. At least 2 billion civilians were dead, along with hundreds of thousands of UNSC military personal. The Covenant lost many tens of thousands in the battle for this planet as well, along with about four of their assault carriers and fifteen CCS battle cruisers, but still they had achieved another victory which was pushing Humanity back towards their home system, and just last week, they had destroyed Tura and Tura II, killing thousands of civilians and UNSC military personal, leaving the planet of Reach as the last stand for the Humans in the Niobe Aino system.

Humanity was on the brink of defeat and Reach, one of the most important planets, or probably the most important planet that was left, in the Niobe Aino system would not hold out for long against the Covenant, but some did believe that it would. Why? Because earlier on last month scientists had begun using an alien resource called Dorvask, which was a titanium, steel and unknown alien liquid compound that was incredibly strong, much stronger than anything Humanity had ever made. It had been used for resource purposes but now with Humanity at war with the Covenant, they had found out a way to mix it with clothing and used it to make bodysuits, sixty five to be exact, but no more as the resource had run out. So, only a limited number of soldiers, medics, pilots, engineers and such could be used in combat with these bodysuits, and the UNSC High Command wanted to make sure they were the best.

Matthew was one of the soldiers picked to be part of this 'special assignment' the UNSC had set up. He had been on Earth a few days ago, visiting his mother and he had received word from a general that he was to report to Reach immediately. He had asked why, but they did not answer him and just told him to go there. When he arrived earlier this morning, he had been taken to a changing room and given a red bodysuit to wear. He did not know how it worked but he had a feeling he would find out soon. Afterwards, he had been taken to an underground warehouse, where about ten other people, who were wearing either red, green or white bodysuits, were scattered about, talking and left there. He had sat on his own for a while and had read a letter, which was to be sent to his mother, along with a photo of the men he had trained, which he had promised to send, to tell her how he was getting on in this assignment, he had written last night over and over for…it seemed like forever. Then, about ten minutes ago, a familiar face walked through the door of the warehouse. It was Emily. She was dressed in a white bodysuit and as soon as she had seen Matthew, as she was on her own, she ran over to him and they had hugged each other tightly. Both were very happy to see each other and were lost in conversation within seconds. Emily was explaining what had happened after she had left Takra during the Battle of Rodum and how she had come into this taskforce.

"So after I came to Reach, I changed into this bodysuit and came here," she finished explaining. "I got worried that I wasn't going to know anyone,"

"Same here," Matthew replied. "Until you got here, I've just been sitting here reading this letter of mine,"

Emily smiled. "Well, we can be sure we'll be together, no matter what," she said.

Matthew smiled and nodded in reply. Emily looked a little older than she did. She was only in her early twenties but she looked to be in her late twenties. Like all the other UNSC soldiers, she had gotten very little rest over the past few months with the fighting against the Covenant becoming more serious. Still, though, she looked beautiful. She had cut her brown hair shorter, God knows why, but other than that, she rarely looked any different at all, and that was the way Matthew wanted her to be.

"So, do you know anyone else that'll be coming into this taskforce?" Matthew asked her.

"No," Emily replied. "I haven't heard anything from anyone else I know if they're coming here as well. What about you?"

"Nope,"

At that moment, the door to the warehouse opened and a group of five people walked into the room, three men and two women. Two of the men were wearing green bodysuits, the third wearing red. Both of the women green bodysuits. The men walked over to another two men wearing green bodysuits in the far top left corner of the room. The two women looked around the room to try and see if they could find anyone they knew. They saw Emily and smiled and ran over to them.

"Emily!" the woman in the green bodysuit exclaimed as they reached her.

The woman had short brown hair, blue eyes and a pretty face with a small nose, skin that looked very smooth and soft cheeks. Her name was Anya. The other woman had black hair, brown eyes and had freckles over her face. Her name was Allison. They were both close friends of Emily.

"Hey Matthew," Allison said to which he nodded in reply.

"We didn't know who else we knew was gonna be here," Anya said to Emily.

"So did I," Emily replied. "But, luckily, Matthew was here to keep me company,"

"Your knight in shining armour, hey?" Anya joked to which they all chuckled at. "Well, thanks for keeping her company, Matthew," she said to him.

"It's alright," he replied as he stood up. "I'm gonna go and talk to Tom," he told them. "I'll see you guys later,"

"Alright, see you later," Emily replied and Matthew walked over to the group of men in the top left corner of the room. Emily and her friends walked over to the corner opposite them and sat down on a few crates.

As Matthew walked towards them, a voice in his head said: _Why don't you tell her? _His heart

_I'm too nervous _another voice seemed to reply. His mind replied.

"But I'll have to eventually," he muttered under his breath before he shook these thoughts out of his mind and set his sights on the group in front of him.

When Matthew reached the group, he said: "Thought you guys would never see me again, did you?"

They group turned to look at him and they, apart from one who looked a bit confused, smiled.

"Hey Matthew!" the man, who was a heavily built soldier with blonde hair and blue eyes and was dressed in a green bodysuit, in front of him said. "Good to see you, buddy,"

"Good to see you to, Tom," he replied, shaking his friend's hand.

Matthew sat down on one of the crates the group were sitting on. Tom sat down next to him. These men were his friends, apart from the one who looked confused, but Matthew saw him.

"We haven't met before, have we?" he asked the soldier.

"No," the soldier replied. He had red hair and green eyes and an athletic body.

"Yeah, Matt, this is Luke," Tom introduced. "Luke, this is Matt," he said to the soldier.

The two shook hands and nodded friendly at each other.

"So how you guys been?" Matthew asked as them as he and Luke let go of each other's hands.

"We've been okay," one of them, who was heavily built and had black hair and green eyes, replied. "It's been really different without you, though,"

"You training those recruits must have been boring," Tom said.

"No, actually," Matthew replied, defending his position. "It was actually quite good. I got to know them really well. They were good friends,"

Another of the soldiers chuckled. "Yeah but, still, I bet you were glad to be free of them when their training was done," he said.

"Sorta. But, I was happy for them. They were finally UNSC marines."

"Where are they now?" Luke asked.

At these words, Matthew's happiness instantly left him and he sighed sadly.

"Dead," he replied. "Well, two of them are," he added. "I don't know of the other two,"

"Oh,"

The group looked at each other uncertainly. It was obvious Matthew had become good friends with these new recruits of his and now two of them were dead and two of them were missing, most likely dead. It was quite sad.

Tom rested a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm sure they're fine, Matthew," he said. "I'm sure they're alive and safe,"

Matthew smiled at his friend's encouragement. He knew he was trying to give him hope, but they both knew they were completely unsure whether the two remaining recruits were alive or not. In fact, and Matthew hated himself when he thought of this, he just would not be surprised if news came to him that Samuel and Lee were dead. In a way, he was expecting them to come up dead as they had almost no chance in being alive in this war against the Covenant after being listed as missing for the past few months. He would just wish he would hear of them already as this constant wait of not knowing whether they were alive or not was driving him crazy. He mentally sighed to himself. He would just have to wait and see what fate had to show him.

About another half hour passed and the group were lost in conversation, every now and then looking over their shoulder to see who would enter when the warehouse door opened. Whilst Tom was talking, Matthew looked over at the group of women in the corner, which was now numbering five, made up of Anya, Emily, Allison and another two girls called Sophie and Emily, both of who were wearing white bodysuits. Then, he saw Anya get up and talk to another woman in a white bodysuit, who had turned to face Anya so Matthew only saw her back. The two talked for a few seconds before Anya led the woman over to the group in the corner.

_She looks a bit familiar _Matthew thought as he looked at the woman before h shrugged and came back to reality with the group.

A few moments later, the door at the other end of the warehouse opened, revealing a corridor, and a soldier walked out.

"Alright," he announced "Everyone this way,"

"Time to go," Tom said as the group got up and followed the rest of the taskforce out of the warehouse into the corridor. As they went, Matthew looked behind him to see Emily's group of friends following not far behind. He tried to see if he could spot that woman that had just arrived but it was hard because everyone was moving down the corridor and he gave up after a few seconds and walked on, quickly catching up with his group of friends to act as if he had been there all along.

The taskforce emerged from the corridor into another warehouse with another door on the left wall and a walkway placed along the front wall and about twenty feet above the floor. When everyone was in the warehouse, a sergeant walked out of one of the doors down the walkway, stopping about half-way down it, and turning to face those in front of him.

"Good day, soldiers," he said.

"Good day, sir," the taskforce replied and the sergeant cleared his throat.

"I am sergeant John," he explained. "I will be training you for the fight against the Covenant. Many of you may not have been in combat before. For those of you that have, you'll expect what training will come. Training will last a month. Now, report to your barracks. Training will start later today," the sergeant concluded.

The taskforce began to file out of the warehouse through the corridor on the other side of the door on the left wall. As they walked down the corridor, Tom looked behind him and saw a very familiar face he had seen several times.

"Hey, Matthew," he said to his friend, who was walking alongside him. "Look who's with us," he nodded behind him.

Matthew looked and saw the woman he had seen enter the warehouse and talk to Anya. She was about twenty years old with silver hair, blue eyes and was about 6ft 4 tall. His eyes went wide.

"It's Eve," he said to his friend. "I can't believe she's with us," then, a small smile crept onto his face. "With her here, we'll win. I know it,"

At the end of the corridor, which joined onto a larger corridor going both ways, was a door which opened automatically, revealing a barracks filled with bunk beds along both sides of the walls. The taskforce entered the barracks and began to choose their beds. Matthew chose one of the bunk beds near the barracks entrance and climbed onto the top bunk and sat down on the bed. Tom sat down on the bed below him.

"So, what do you think'll happen now?" Tom asked him.

"I don't know," Matthew replied. "Probably be put back out in combat again like before," he added as he laid down, resting his head on the bed's pillow.

He reached into his chest pocket and took out a small folded up piece of paper and unfolded it. It was the letter to his mother. It was almost done, he just had to add a little at the end and put the photograph on it. He would work on it later tonight when they had some free time. Right now, his thoughts were on the training in the weeks ahead of them.


	19. Debriefing

**Twenty nine days later**

**Date: April 2****nd****, 2552**

The training for the last month had been tiring and hard, but, thankfully, it was beginning to wind down a little. They had been through all the training some of the veterans had been through before such as weapons testing training, saving a hostage in a hostage situation, securing a Covenant commander and calling for evac. They had even trained in hand-to-hand combat in fighting replicas of Covenant soldiers. All of it was hard but they had been told it was only another two more weeks of training until it was over and they were to start their first mission.

Today, they had a bit of luck. They were not training today. They were going to the main hall of the base to be debriefed on Covenant forces. Though most of the soldiers here knew what aliens were in the Covenant, there were a few, such as medics or pilots, who did not so, rather than pick out individuals from the taskforce, the High Command decided to debrief the entire taskforce on the Covenant soldiers.

Matthew was walking down the corridor to the main hall with Eve, Allison, Bethany and Anya in the rush with the rest of the taskforce. They were talking about what was going on and what would happen when they were done

"After all that training, we finally learn what races make up the Covenant," Matthew said.

"It's gone quick," Anya replied. "But I bet the combat will drag on forever,"

"You better get used to it as soon as you're out there," Matthew told her. "When I was out there before, a day felt like an eternity. Even the fighting , which would speed up the day, would drag on forever,"

Eve sighed. "Let's hope that doesn't happen," she said.

Hope. That was something Matthew had trusted for a long time since the war began, and it had done very little in return. He had hoped his recruits would live, and yet two of them were dead and two were missing, most likely dead as well. He had hoped the Covenant would be defeated, and yet they had driven Humanity across the Niobe Aino system and had almost driven them _from_ it. He did not even bother hoping he would live through the fighting that would come ahead because he believed he would be killed soon.

However, if there one thing he was hoping for, it was to admit his true feelings to Emily. He had had a secret crush on her for years, and yet he had not found the courage to admit to her, even when he was alone with her at the Recruitment and Training Centre on Eucia and at the hospital in Sura. He had those chances but he just did not have the heart to admit to her how he really felt about her. That he cared for her. That…he loved her.

He shook those thoughts out of his mind as he walked into the main hall, which was in another large warehouse building, though not as large as the past warehouses they had been in. The main hall room was a large square shape with a large computer screen attached to the wall at the other end of the room. In the middle of the room in front of the computer screen was a set of hover chairs in rows of about thirteen long and five down. The taskforce members sat down in the chairs. Eve, Anya, Matthew, Bethany and Allison sat down on the second row. Anya sat down on the left end. Next to her was Bethany, then Matthew, then Allison and then Eve. Emily, Tom and Sophie sat down in the front row in front of Anya, Bethany and Matthew (in order). Standing in front of the enormous computer screen at the front of the room was sergeant John.

"Good morning troops," he announced. "Lucky for you today, there will be no training. Today, we are going to show you troops of the Covenant and then assign each of you your tasks for your first mission,"

"Basically, It'll be boring," Matthew whispered to Allison, who smirked in reply.

_Don't know why half of us have to go through with this, I know these God damn things off by heart _he mentally said to himself.

"I think I'd rather take this than training," Allison said to him.

"Now," John announced. "Here is the first alien,"

The computer screen lit up by voice command and a picture of a strange looking alien, which was probably the strangest looking creature most of the taskforce had ever seen. Even Eve had never seen this creature before. Matthew knew what this alien was though. It was a Grunt.

"This alien you see before us is called an Unggoy," John explained. "We call 'em Grunts, mainly because of their size and because they are not hard to kill. But be warned, troops. Even on Earth the hardest of creatures can still put up a brave fight, so remember they are easy to kill but they will put up a fight."

"Very convincing," Matthew whispered sarcastically. "Don't listen to him," he muttered to the others around him in order to reassure him. "They are easy to kill,"

"Anyway," John went on. "Grunts fight in packs of up to four or five strong. They will, almost all the time, be in a pack when fighting. The only time when they are not is when they are on a turret or piloting a vehicle. They are usually led by either a higher ranking Grunt or an Elite. However, most Grunts will flee if confronted by superior enemies, unless they are being led by someone. I also suppose you're wondering why they have a huge triangle piece of armour on their backs. The reason is because the Grunt home world's atmosphere is mostly comprised of methane. In that armour is a methane tank that connects to the methane breather they wear over their mouths."

"Finally, Grunts have five ranks in their race in the Covenant. The first is a Grunt minor, they are always on the battlefield and wear orange armour. The second is a Grunt major, they are also on the battlefield and they usually lead minor Grunts if an Elite is not around. They wear red armour. The third is a heavy Grunt. Heavy Grunts are mostly used for defensive positions and are mostly seen on Shade turrets. They wear green armour. The fourth is a Special ops Grunt. These Grunts a mostly used for special missions. We have had very little combat with them, so don't worry too much about them. They wear jet black armour. The final rank is Grunt ultra. Grunt ultra's are the top Grunt commanders. They wear silver armour, but they are also rarely seen on the battlefield."

"Wow!" Allison whispered uninterestingly. "The first one and It's already boring,"

Matthew and Bethany smirked silently and Eve and Anya just rolled their eyes.

"The next alien you will see is known as a Kig-Yar," John said. "Or, as we call 'em, a Jackal,"

The image on the computer screen changed from a Grunt to another alien that Matthew instantly recognized as a Jackal. He could also tell it shocked some of the other taskforce members as he heard one of them gasp and another whisper "Whoa!" and he just rolled his eyes and looked on as John broke into another babble of explaining this alien to them all.

"The Jackal is an extremely cautious creature. They are a lot better in combat than Grunts. This is mainly because they have amazing vision, hearing and smelling. Also, they have good climbing abilities with their hands and feet, which can allow them to climb trees and small buildings. The wrist device they carry is actually a shield which they use to defend themselves and wounded in combat. The shield is pretty much bullet-proof. Only rockets, grenades and weapons from vehicles and turrets can destroy those shields. However, instead of wasting your ammo, the best thing to do is to wait for the Jackal to return fire because he moves the shield from in front of him to his side, completely exposing himself. However, if you manage to destroy the shield but the Jackal still lives, it'll flee until the shield activates. So a word of advice, you see a fleeing bird, kill it."

"That alien looks creepy, doesn't it?" he said to Eve.

"I know, it looks like a mutated vulture," she replied.

"Before we move on," John continued, interrupting them before they could speak further on the Jackal. "There are two known ranks in the Jackal race. The first is a minor Jackal. The second is a major Jackal. These two Jackals are no different in appearance or armour or weapons. The only difference is their shields. The Minor Jackals' shield is always green. The major Jackals' shield is always a purple/pink colour. Remember that."

"Anymore left, I'm almost falling asleep here," Matthew muttered to himself.

The image on the computer screen changed again, this time from a Jackal to an Elite. Eve gasped.

"That's the alien I had to battle," she whispered to her friends.

"You're lucky you won that without really bad injuries," Matthew whispered back. "I know another guy called Sam who went in a fight against one of those. When it was over, he looked like he'd been in an accident. He was real messed up."

"This alien you see now is called Sangheili," John explained. "We call it an Elite. The reason we call this alien an elite is because they are the backbone of the Covenant army. They are very aggressive, strong and fast. Their height is about eight and a half feet tall. The way their legs go in a backwards curve beneath their knees allows them to jump over great distances. Their armour is like steel. It covers pretty much all of their body. Also, their armour has a built in shield that recharges, much like your own. Also, their armour has some sort of active camouflage. They are invisible, but they can easily be seen by the outline of their armour. If you can kill them, the camouflage will be disabled and you will see their bodies."

"Now that is something I'd like on the battlefield," Anya whispered to Bethany, who nodded in reply.

"We only know a handful of ranks in the Elites army." John continued. "The first is a Elite minor. They were light blue armour and they are easy to kill. They mostly lead Grunts and Jackals and are always on the battlefield. The second is a Elite major. They were red armour and are slightly stronger and more deadly than Elite minors. They also lead Grunts and Jackals, but can sometimes lead two or three Elite minors. The third we know about is known as a 'Zealot' by the Covenant. They were gold armour that is quite difficult to penetrate. It is common to see them on the battlefield, but they will only appear if their other troops are dead or if they are defending important areas of the battlefield. They are like battlefield commanders and they can fire their weapons like hell at you. And if that wasn't enough, they have a weapon called the energy sword that is probably the only proper weapon that can kill you with one swipe."

"Basically, if you see a commander, you kill it," he said to his friends, who nodded in reply.

"Now, the last alien you will see is a very hard alien to kill," John said.

Matthew and his friends looked at each other as if to say: _Is that supposed to be helping us? _

The image on the computer screen changed again from an Elite to a large alien Matthew had barely fought, but recognized instantly. It was a Hunter. A few people around him swore under their breaths and began whispering about the size of the alien and the fact that it might be dangerous.

"This alien is known as a Mgalekgolo," John explained. "We call it a Hunter. The reason is because although they are not fast like Elites, they can easily take down an enemy within a range of around two to five hundred metres away with It's cannon. Because they don't have any eyes, they find their way around through sense of smell and strong hearing, but this hearing does not work like the Jackals. Now this cannon can fire heavy exploding plasma projectiles that can devastate an area of up to twenty yards. So a word of advice, you see one of these things, either get behind a big rock or kill it using a grenade. However, these guys do have a weak spot. On their back is an exposed part of orange skin. A grenade or burst of ammunition from a heavy weapon can kill them quickly. These aliens mainly work in pairs for heavy attack or heavy defence and there are no ranks in their army."

The image of the Hunter disappeared and was replaced by an image of about fifty Covenant assault carriers and scores of Covenant CCS battle cruisers. How someone had been able to take this picture must have been on a suicide mission. He had never seen a Covenant fleet this large before.

"This Covenant fleet is part of the main fleet that launches the attacks on our colonized planets," John explained.

The image zoomed in on a large assault carrier in the middle of the fleet.

"This assault carrier is the head of this fleet," John continued. "Our sources tell us that this ship is carrying Intel on the Covenant home world. Like them, we don't know where their home world is. But if you can board this ship and get to the bridge, we will learn the location of the Covenant home world. Our very survival could depend on the outcome of this mission."

Matthew and Eve looked at each other, as did other people around the room with wide eyes. So that is how serious this mission is. If they failed then…Humanity was pretty much finished.

"Great, first mission and they're already pressuring us!" Matthew groaned under his breath.

"This mission will take place in ten days' time," John said. "Now before we go, I have one more thing to say: Eve will be leading the assault,"

Matthew, along with everyone else in the hall, turned to look at Eve, who shrunk down a little in her seat out of fear of sixty five pairs of eyes staring at her at once.

"As Eve is the best in the UNSC, she has been chosen personally by the BnL president to lead you against the Covenant." John said. "Now, go back to your barracks and rest. You will report to the mission hall later today to go over the mission's objectives."

Everyone got up and walked out of the hall. Matthew tried to talk to Emily but he saw her with Anya, Allison, Sophie and Bethany after Eve, who had rushed ahead of everyone else in the rush to get out of the room to avoid talking to anyone. As he followed them, he saw Eve's friends catch up with her and they talked for several seconds and, before Matthew could catch up with them, walk off with everyone else down the corridor, laughing at something Allison had said.

Matthew sighed in frustration at failing to stop Emily and talk to her. He wanted to tell her how he felt for her, but something seemed to stop him every time he wanted to talk to her. It was beginning to get very frustrating and now he had a limited timespan to tell her before the mission was launched because either him or Emily might not come back from it. He _had _to tell her, and soon.

"Hey Matt," a voice said behind him.

Matt looked over his shoulder to see Tom run up to him.

"Can you believe it?" he asked as he reached his friend. "Eve's leading the mission!"

Matthew nodded. "I had a feeling she would," he said. "She'll be alright. We all will,"

Tom nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Like you said: With Eve here, we'll win,"

Matthew nodded and the two joined the rush back to the barracks to get some rest.


	20. The soldier's end

**End flashback**

And that was it. That was the past two years of his life from when his life changed in the UNSC right up to now. It had been a rollercoaster ride filled with both enthusiasm and happiness and then anger and sadness. Now, however, that rollercoaster ride was coming to an end. In just four days from now, they would begin their first mission in the war against the Covenant, and yet they were already nervous to know that this mission could mean victory or total annihilation for Humanity.

"Allison, please,"

Matthew, opening his eyes from the flashback, looked back down to see Marcus be stopped again by the woman in the green bodysuit.

"No, Marcus, stop," she replied. "You've already upset her. Now just…please just go and sit down,"

Marcus looked down the room towards the end and sighed in defeat and walked back over to a bunk bed across the room from Matthew's bunk, where a group of three other men were, and sat down. Matthew laid back down on his bed and reached into his chest pocket and took out the folded piece of paper. A small square object fell out of the paper as he took it out of his pocket and Matthew caught it and looked at it.

It was the photo of him and the recruits on the night of when they became men of the UNSC. Matthew was standing in the middle of the photographic with Samuel and Edward to his right and Lee and Tommy to his left, all smiling at the camera. He smiled at the photograph at first but it quickly fell from his face and he wiped away a tear from his eye.

Just last night, an officer who had worked at the Training and Recruitment Centre on Euica had come looking for Matthew and had told him that the last two members of his team of recruits, Lee and Samuel, were both dead, Lee having died on Eucia II in a gunfight with a Covenant squad and Samuel had been killed on Takra in New Milboar when his pelican had been shot down by a banshee. Hearing this, Matthew was devastated. Those four recruits he had spent a year training were all dead. He had cried himself to sleep last night, knowing now some of the best people he knew in his life were gone.

Matthew managed to hold back another set of tears and placed the photograph back in his chest pocket and opened up the letter. He had also managed to finish this last night, just before he had heard of Samuel and Lees' deaths. He smiled a little again. He was going to have to send this of later on. His mother would enjoy this, and the photo of the men he had trained.

"One, two…" a voice from down the end of the room.

Matthew sat up and moved to the end of his bed and looked down the room to the end, where he saw three women gather around Eve's bed. He recognized them to be Anya, Bethany and Emily. They were creeping towards Eve's bed, which she was lying asleep on, and he smiled and managed to supress a laugh. They were going to make her jump.

_Good luck _he thought as he sat back down on his bed.

A second later, he heard Eve's voice say: "Don't even think about it," and he smiled and laughed a little. Bethany said something and Eve replied.

_Oh, that lot are funny _Matthew thought as he went to read his letter again. He was going to try and talk to Emily again later, but he doubted it would work as he tried two more times to try and talk to her since they were debriefed on their first mission. Well, it could not hurt to t-

**BEEEEEPPPPPP!**

Suddenly, the entire room went a dark red colour and the sound of an alarm filled the air, making him jump. Matthew stuffed the letter back inside his chest pocket and jumped down from his bed to see Eve run to the end of the barracks and open the door. She paused and said something and another voice outside in the corridor replied.

_What the Hell's going on? _Matthew mentally asked himself.

He got his answer when Eve turned and shouted out: "Alright, everyone. Let's go, let's go!"

"What's going on?" Matthew asked.

Eve turned to look at him. "It's the Covenant," she answered. "They're attacking,"

At once, there was a rush to the barracks door. Matthew joined the rush and ran out into the corridor, where officers and soldiers were running in both directions or towards the hall at the end of the corridor ahead of them. Matthew tried to find anyone he knew but it was almost impossible as everyone was rushing around too quickly.

Then, Matthew was almost knocked over by a soldier who had a camcorder attached to his shoulder, but he managed to stop himself.

"Sorry, man," the soldier shouted to him and disappeared in the rush.

"Matthew!" a voice called. He looked left down the corridor, where the voice had come from, and saw Emily waving to him. She was with Allison, Bethany, Sophie, Anya and Eve. "C'mon, this way,"

Matthew pushed his way through the corridor to them and the group ran left down the corridor to an intersection in the corridor and turned left again and ran down another corridor into the armoury, which was a big square room that was about one hundred and ten feet long and seventy feet in width. In the left corner of the room next to the doorway were two fenced off power generators and another door was on the right wall near the other end of the armoury. Scattered along the walls of the armoury were crates with weapons on them or attached to the walls. There were machine guns, rifles, grenades, pistols, you name it. There were about thirty other soldiers in the armoury getting weapons.

"You lot, over here," a voice shouted to them.

The group looked over towards the other end of the room and saw sergeant John waving to them. They ran over to him.

"Right, you each have a BR55 battle rifle each," John said, handing each of the group a machine gun with a scope on it. It roughly weighed about eight lbs. "You also have a M6C Magnum pistol as a sidearm and two fragmentation grenades," he added, handing each of the group a pistol and two grenades.

"The Covenant has launched a full-scale assault on the planet." John explained to them. "We need to keep this base in our hands. If we can hold them off, there's a chance we might be able to hold off the Covenant long enough to evacuate the people."

"Thanks John," Matthew replied.

John nodded. "Good luck,"

The group ran out of the armoury through the door on the right wall and found themselves in a world of chaos.

In the air, there were UNSC fighters and Covenant Seraph fighters, truck sized fighters with a main cannon at the front, two spires on either side of the cannon and bulge at the top and bottom of the fighter, engaged in dogfights. Pelicans were flying in all directions, some being blasted out of the sky and Covenant drop ships, big ships with two L shaped sections that stuck out from a bulk-like part of the ship that led down to a turret and there was also a blue haze between the two L sections of the ship, were landing everywhere. One even landed a few hundred feet away behind some burning buildings and the sound of shouting and gunfire filled the air afterwards. Matthew stared in shock at it all, as did the others in the group. This really was a full-scale assault. It was like being back on Takra again, only this time the Covenant had come here with more ships, more weapons and more troops.

"Over here," a voice shouted to them. The group looked over towards a maze of small cube shaped building to see a marine waving at them. "You guys, over here,"

The group ran over to the soldier, who led them into the maze of buildings. As they went between the alleyways and small paths, explosions erupted overhead and the sound of gun and blast fire filled the air. The fighting was close, real close.

Finally, after a few minutes, the marine led them into one of the cube shaped buildings. When they entered, Matthew gazed around the room. They were in a square shaped front room with a small chair in the corner with a table in the middle of the room. The picture of a UNSC battle cruiser, which Matthew recognized as the _Terminator_, which had been destroyed on the first day of the war with Covenant above Umeda, was placed on the right wall of the room. A desk was on the left wall with several papers scattered across it. There were two doorways on the wall opposite the building's entrance, one of which led into a kitchen, the other outside, and, which was just visible, a platform, which would lead upstairs, was visible on the kitchen floor just to the left of the doorway. This must have been a captain's house.

"What are we doing here?" Eve asked the marine.

"We need your help," the marine replied. "First of all, I'm Captain Robinson,"

He shook Eve's hand. "Okay, captain, what is it you need us to do?" she asked him.

"The Covenant has launched a ground assault against this base," Robinson explained.

Whilst he was explaining this, Matthew realised he was standing behind Emily. This was the perfect time to tell her, and probably the only time, but could he do it? Could he find the courage to tell her how he felt about her? _Oh c'mon, this is your last chance! Do it!_

Matthew took a deep breath and tapped Emily on the shoulder and she turned to face him.

"What is it, Matthew?" she asked.

"Um…" he began. He was already finding it hard trying to put this together. Oh God, he was probably making himself look like a fool in front of her, but he pressed on. This was his only chance left and he was **not **going to blow it. "I…I have something…to…to tell you, Emily," he said.

"Can't it wait?" she asked him.

"No," he replied. "I've tried telling you in the past but It's not worked so I'm gonna tell you now," he took his hand in hers and stepped closer to her so his face was inches from hers. "Emily, I love you,"

She went wide-eyed. _H-he l-lo-loved me? _H-how could this be possible? They had been friends for a long time but, how could he love her? She tried to reply but the words got lost in her mouth. Matthew smiled a little.

"It's okay," he whispered.

"It's a big shock," she replied, also whispering.

"-Link up with squad sixteen over by the medical outpost," captain Robinson finished explaining, snapping the two back into reality. Emily gave Matthew an uncertain look before she turned to face the captain again. Matthew sighed and did the same.

_She looked worried_ he thought worryingly. _I'll have to sort it out later._

The group gave a salute to the captain and followed Eve back outside into the maze of buildings. As Matthew came out last, he looked right towards the way they had come and saw one of the buildings on fire with a dead marine laying on the ground, next to him a dead Jackal. He stared at the corpses for a second before he shook his head and followed the group.

About a minute or two passed before the group emerged from the maze of buildings. As they did, an explosion erupted on the ground about thirty feet away to their left, blowing a mongoose vehicle in two and setting the remains on fire. Then, a seraph fighter zoomed overhead, followed by three long sword fighters.

"Time to kick alien butt," Matthew muttered.

Eve led the group across the war torn landscape towards a set of cube shaped buildings next to a rectangular building. As they ran, a tropical tree was set alight by a small explosion. Matthew, Emily and Anya turned their heads to look at it and watched as the fire consumed the tree. They shook the image out of their minds and ran onwards.

When the group reached one of the cube shaped buildings, a marine sergeant and a marine pointed them to different areas. Matthew and Emily took up positions side by side behind two windows on the front of the building, aiming their weapons outside across the war torn landscape. Anya and Allison were directed to a hole in the wall, which had been caused by an explosion, where another marine was standing by. Eve and Sophie were taken upstairs to the roof where a few others marines were in position.

As they waited for what would happen next, Matthew turned his head to look at Emily. She saw him, out of the corner of her eye, staring at him, but did not turn to face him.

"How d'you feel about me telling you I love you?" he asked her.

"Shocked," she replied, not turning to face him. "I only thought you and me would be friends," she paused for a moment. "I never thought you and me would… Be this close,"

"Neither did I," Matthew told her. "Well, at first, I mean, but now I've come to realise how much I like you, Emily. I really do love you, and I never will stop loving you,"

This time she did not reply but, instead, turned her head to face him. She looked at him curiously as if to say: _Well, you never admitted this to me in the past_ before she resumed looking back out across the landscape.

"Guys, they're coming!" Eve's voice whispered down the stairs to them.

Those on the ground floor readied themselves for the coming threat. The wait was tense. Matthew placed his finger on the trigger, ready to fire on the Covenant as soon as they came into view. Emily did the same. It was as if they could each other's tense levels and nervousness, but they had done this many times before on other worlds like Takra, Eucia and Eucia II.

"I see them!" Emily hissed quietly all of a sudden.

Matthew looked ahead of them and saw several approaching figures. He immediately recognized the Elite surrounded by four Grunts. Either side of the five Covenant soldiers were two Jackals. Matthew tightened his grip on his battle rifle and waited for the Covenant squad to get closer to fire on them.

Closer and closer the Covenant squad came. Matthew's heart was beating madly against his chest like a drum and he took several deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He looked over at Emily and saw she had a worried look on her face. This was the first time she was going into battle against Covenant soldiers without the use or protection of a pelican. This time, it was her and her teammates.

"You'll be alright, Emily," Matthew whispered to her.

She turned her head to look at him and then, after a second of holding the worried look on her face, she smiled a little.

"Thanks, Matthew," she replied.

BANG! A warthog suddenly drove over a metal barricade and drove towards the Covenant squad. There were three men in the warthog, a driver, a marine in the passenger seat and a marine on the turret on the back. The marine on the turret and the marine in the passenger seat blazed away at the Covenant.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Matthew yelled.

Then, one of the Jackals raised It's plasma pistol, which was holding a charged shot, and fired at the warthog. The blast struck the driver in the head and the warthog skidded sideways and flipped over onto It's side. The driver's body fell out of the vehicle onto the ground, along with the passenger marine and the marine on the turret. The marine who had been in the passenger seat got up, grabbed his MA5B assault rifle and ran out from behind the warthog.

"DIE!" he yelled as he fired a burst of ammo at the Covenant squad, killing a Grunt. The Elite growled and fired a shot from It's plasma rifle at the marine, hitting him in the head, killing him

The marine on the turret got up and tried to make a run for the buildings but one of the Jackals saw him and fired another charged shot at him, striking him in the leg. The marine fell to the ground, screaming in pain as blood poured from his wound, turning the ground around his leg a maroon colour from the blood.

Matthew went to fire a burst from his battle rifle when Emily shouted all of a sudden: "I'll get him," and she ran out of the building through a large hole in the wall next to her.

"No! Emily, come back!" Allison shouted after her.

"I'll get her," Matthew piped up and he ran out through the hole after Emily.

He had to save her! He had to, or she was dead. It was good she was risking her life for the soldier but there was still a large Covenant force outside trying to kill them. She would be as good as dead without any help.

Behind him, those in and on top of the building fired away at the Covenant, hoping to provide some covering fire. It managed to keep the Jackals pinned behind their shields but the Grunts and Elite had taken cover behind the warthog.

"You're gonna be okay," Emily told the soldier as she reached him and took him under the shoulders and began dragging him back towards the building.

"GET BACK IN HERE!" Allison yelled at her and Matthew.

As Matthew reached her, a blast zoomed over his head, narrowly missing it.

"You go on, I'll cover you," he said to Emily. She nodded and began pulling the soldier with all her might towards the building.

Matthew fired at the Covenant, who had retreated from behind the warthog and were lying down on the ground in a small hole. He dived behind the warthog and fired a burst of ammo at the Covenant, narrowly missing the Elite's head.

Then, the Elite stood up and fired two shots from It's plasma rifle at Matthew. He saw them coming and hid behind the warthog. The light blue blasts zoomed past him and he stood out from behind the warthog and fired a burst of ammo in return, hitting the Elite's shield, which caused it to light up, but only just.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Matthew's eyes went wide. That scream! He knew the voice of that scream very well. It was…no! No, it could not be!

He turned and saw his worst fear was realised. Lying on the ground, at least twenty feet from the building was Emily. The soldier she had been dragging back to the building was lying on the ground next to her, dead. He had a blast mark over his chest. One of them must have struck him, but then that meant other just have struck…

"Emily!" he cried.

Not caring anymore about his safety, he ran over towards her. He had to save her, and he **was** going to save her, even if it meant costing his own life. He did not care, just as long as she was safe, that was all that mattered to him.

Matthew skidded to a halt as he reached her. She had a blast wound on her side, but she was not moving at all. Was she? No! No, please! She could not be!

Then, her eyes shot open and she grabbed her side and yelled out in pain. Matthew mentally breathed a sigh of relief. She was alive, hurt but alive! Now he had to get her out of here.

"Don't worry, Emily," he said to her as he picked her up, placing one hand under her knees and the other around her back. "You'll be okay. Your saf-"

"MATTHEW, WATCH OUT!" Eve yelled at him.

The next thing he knew, the world around him seemed to turn a light blue colour, followed by him falling through the air and…and him no longer being able to feel Emily!

A painful thud brought him back into reality as the light blue light faded after about two seconds. He was lying on the ground on his side. Then, a sharp pain filled him as a blood began to pour from a wound on his leg. He looked down at his leg and saw a hole in the bodysuit's leg and large wound on his leg. Matthew grabbed his leg to try and stop the flow of the pain and looked around him to find Emily. Where was she?

Then, he found her on the ground in front of him, lying on her side. He moved himself towards her and turned her over onto her back.

"Emily!" he gasped. She did not reply. "Em-Argh! Emily! Emily?"

Still, she did not reply. He pulled himself closer to her and put two fingers on her pulse.

_No! No! Sh-she was…d-de-she was dead!_ A set of tears rolled down Matthew's face. She was gone. The one person he had known for so long, liked for so long, and loved for so long. She was dead.

"I…I-I l-love y-you, Emily!" he choked silently.

A growl made him look up and his eyes went wide as the Elite walked up to him. He tried to move back but the pain flaring from his leg was too great. He could do nothing.

The Elite stopped in front of him and raised It's plasma rifle, aiming for his head. Matthew's eyes went wide as he stared at the weapon. This was it. Death had come and trapped him and was now about to take him.

The sound of two blast shots filled the air and Matthew's body thudded to the ground, alongside the body of Emily. Their parts in the war were over, as were their lives.

BOOM! BOOM! An explosion lit up the air once more, throwing the Elite to the ground and killing it instantly. Matthew's body was also shifted slightly and the letter and photograph in his chest pocket slipped out slightly, resting on his collar bone.

Eve, who had jumped down from the building's roof, ran over to his body and shook it.

"No!" she cried. "C'mon, Matthew. You can't be gone!"

"LOOK OUT!"

Eve then killed two hunters and, when the building the rest of the squad was in was destroyed, went off to aid her other friends, leaving Matthew's body behind on the ground alongside Emily's. After that, the fighting around them seemed to end as if the war had come to an end.

About ten minutes afterwards, the ground shook slightly and the jolt made the letter to Matthew's mother and the photograph of him and the recruits fall off his chest onto the ground near his hand that was next to Emily's outstretched hand. The things he had cared and loved the most were altogether finally as if at a reunion.

Then, in an instant, those things, along with Matthew's body, Emily's body and everything else around them was destroyed as the laser from a Covenant CCS battle cruiser began to glass Reach.

Their lives and bodies were destroyed, but their memory and courage and the sacrifice they made would live on forever.


	21. Moe's story: Prologue

**Date: September 5****th****, 2551**

**Location: Ira base, Yuri, Takra **

**250 miles south of Rodum,**

Ira base was one of the largest military complexes on Takra. It covered an area about five miles in length and width. In the middle of the base was a large HQ building, a large rectangular building with two cube shaped blocks at either end with a small but wide tower, about twenty feet wide and forty feet high, sticking out of the top of building from the middle of the rectangular section of the building. Seventy feet to the right of the HQ building were twenty fifteen half-cylindrical shaped buildings placed in rows of about five long and four in depth. Next to the rows of barracks was a large square shaped building, which was the mess hall. Seventy feet to the left of the HQ building were three hospital buildings, large rectangular shaped buildings about one hundred feet long and forty feet wide and placed vertically in rows of three. About one hundred feet behind the HQ building were four enormous cube shaped building, whose insides were set into different cubicles with either a scorpion tank or a warthog or mongoose. They were vehicle bays. Further on behind the vehicle bays were several large circular shaped structures with thick armour around it and inside each of the buildings were large lift that went underground to an underground safe haven for civilians and wounded. About one thousand feet further on behind these structures were nine large square shaped hangers with landing strips going out towards each other, forming a large star-like airstrip. Scattered around the bases were large AA missile launcher turrets and on the ground around the base's perimeter were several large _Paladin _cannons, which were large spherical shaped weapons with a thick metallic neck stretching down to the ground, which made it look as if it were attached to it, with a large silo sticking out of the front of the sphere.

Construction on Ira base began in 2356 and was completed in 2372. Since then, it had grown to almost twice as large. It was home to about 6,000 UNSC military personal and was one of the main hearts for the military on Takra. It's main mission was to protect the surrounding areas, mainly comprising of the cities of Gorvach and Sukuki, in the event of an attack. This mission, however, was deemed impossible to happen as it had been centuries since Humanity last went to war and it looked as though it would stay that way.

That was until March 2551. On the 3rd day of that month, Humanity came into contact with an alien coalition, made up of seven alien races known as Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Hunters, Brutes, Drones and Prophets, known as the Covenant, and, as it was feared by all leaders if they ever were to come into contact with an alien civilization, they were not friendly.

Since that day onward, the Covenant had smashed their way across the Niobe Aino system, wiping out all Human presence on the colonized worlds. The UNSC had fought bravely, but it was no use. No matter what they had done, the Covenant seemed to win every time, and now they were laying siege to the most populated Human planet in the Niobe Aino system: Takra.

For months, from around about the middle of June this year, they had launched small attacks to rry and gain footholds for the main invasion. It was not until later on in the year that the Covenant launched the feared and coming all-out invasion of the planet. The UNSC had hundreds of thousands of soldiers here and, because Takra was even more populated with civilians from the destroyed worlds, they were planning on holding back the Covenant long enough for everyone to get off the planet and escape to the safety of Humanity's home system. It was difficult though in making sure that would happen as the Covenant were showing no sign of easing their attack on the planet, and the UNSC High Command knew that they would only end when Takra was destroyed. Until then, they were not leaving.

Outside one of the barracks, along the back row and the third building along, a group of soldiers were walking towards the building. They had just returned from Sukuki, about 165 miles away to the east, which was under siege by Covenant forces. The city had been under siege for about three weeks and had resulted in much of it being destroyed, but still the fighting went on. Neither side wanted to give up battling in the city until, either it was completely hopeless in winning, or until one side had been defeated, but with the way the war was going and that fact that Humanity had done very little in succeeding against the Covenant, it looked like Humanity would eventually have to abandon Sukuki to It's fate. 

One of the soldiers said something to the rest of the group and they nodded and walked off towards the mess hall. The soldier walked into the barracks, which was almost deserted save for a few other soldiers sitting around the barracks on their bunk beds or around tables with their friends.

The soldier's name was Moe. He was about twenty three years old and had been born on Vorgra. He had short black hair, brown eyes and he was a shorter than most other UNSC soldiers, about 5ft 9. Still though, he was respected by the others and he had many friends, though most of them were away fighting the Covenant on other parts of Takra.

Moe walked over to one of the bunk beds and sat down on the bottom bunk, his bed, and took out a small box from underneath it and placed it on his lap. In it were several items including a small book, his diary, a small pistol, which all soldiers here to keep with them in case of a Covenant surprise attack on the base, a photo of him and his friends taken just before the war began and a small tube labelled: _Antibacterial hand wash_ and he squeezed the tube and a clear liquid came out of the tube onto his hands. Moe rubbed his hand together to clean his hands.

If you guessed that he was doing this to keep his hands clean, you guessed right. He was quite mysophobic and every time he came back from a battle, he would clean his hands to get rid of any dirt and bacteria brought on from the fighting. His friends teased him about it sometimes but he ignored them and carried on cleaning his hands.

Then, just as he out the tube back into the box, he noticed something else in there as well. It was a small device the size of the palm of his hand with a small square object attached to the size of it in a tiny pocket. The smaller square shaped device was no bigger than the size of his thumbnail. His eyes lit up when he saw this.

"Sweet," he said as he picked up the device.

It was a camcorder. On the bottom of it was a magnetic device that would attach it to anything when activated. The small square shaped object was the camcorder's battery and memory card. It could be left for twenty days without any charging and could store a lot of memory on there, whether it be videos or photos or even maps, which it would scan through the scanner built into the bottom of the device and then bring up information in a holographic version of the map. Also, it could upload and download any information without having to take out the memory card.

Then, Moe noticed a small note attached to the bottom of the camcorder. He took the note off the camcorder and read it.

_Dear Moe_

_I know how much you love camcorders and so I thought I would send you one for you to use. Make sure you look after it well and stay safe._

_Love you_

_Mom_

Moe smiled at the note. "Thanks, Mom," he said.

**Ten minutes later**

**Camcorder's POV **

**Date: 5/9/2551**

**17:32:08:24pm**

The screen shook a little as Moe, holding the camcorder in his hands, walked into the mess hall, which was a large square shaped room with several rows of tables facing vertically towards the opposite wall. It was mainly full and he walked over towards a table where his four friends were sitting.

"Hey guys, look what my mom sent me," he said as he reached them.

"Cool!" one of his friends, who had short red hair, blue eyes and was named Alan, asked. "What type is it?" he asked.

The screen shifted to look down at the floor as Moe moved it to look at the make written on the side of the device.

"A Shinjuku Type 3 make. Newest make of the Shinjuku Types so far," he replied.

"Nice," another of the soldiers, a young looking soldier with brown hair, green eyes and called Isaac, piped up. "Can we use it later on?" he asked.

"Sure, as long as you guys don't break it," Moe told him.

The screen then changed to reveal the table and the four marines sitting around it as Moe stepped back a few paces. The other two friends were a young black soldier, who had blue eyes and was about nineteen years old and was called Jerry, and a soldier, called Michael, with blonde hair, brown eyes and was about Moe's age.

"Say hello to the camera guys," he said.

The four greeted the camera screen.

"Hey!"

"Wassup!"

"What's going down?"

"Hi!"

Moe laughed a little.

"Nice one, guys," he said.

"So when will you let us use it?" Michael asked him.

"Well, soon," Moe replied. "I only got it today. It's not like I got weeks ago, so I still want to use it," 

"Just let us know when you're done," Isaac told him.

"Uh, huh, whatever," was Moe's reply and the screen faced the wall and shifted slightly as Moe walked over towards it to get something to eat. 


	22. Skirmish at Monet farm

**Three weeks later**

**Date: September 26****th****, 2551**

**Camcorder's POV**

**10:31:16:18am**

The camcorder scene, which was attached to Moe's shoulder, shifted slightly as Moe walked towards a waiting pelican parked on the airstrip. With him were Isaac, Jerry and about seven other marines. They were to join a platoon of marines being sent to a small farm on the outskirts of Tyre village. Apparently, there had been reports of some disturbance out there for the past few nights. The farmer there, a Frenchman, had reported seeing, as he put it, a few tall, bird-like creatures moving about. When news of this reached the base's command, they were quick to organize a strike force to go looking for the Covenant forces, which were most likely spies to relay information to their ships about the base.

"How many of these things did this guy say there was?" the soldier walking next to Moe, and he was next to the shoulder with the camcorder.

"About five, I think," Isaac, who was walking behind the soldier, replied. "It's obvious they're Jackals,"

"You're right there," Moe replied, turning his shoulder slightly as he looked over at Isaac to reply. "But the question is: Is there any others with 'em?"

The other nodded in agreement and Moe turned back to face the pelican. When they reached it, they climbed into the craft, Moe sitting on the end seat of the resting area on the right side of the resting area.

"Alright, we're ready," one of the soldiers said to the pilot through the open cog pit door.

**Normal view**

A second later, the craft jolted and hovered up into the air. The camcorder caught the landing gear as they folded themselves back up either side of the resting area. When the pelican was about twenty feet above the ground, it flew off east towards the farm, which was about ten miles away from the base and about half a mile outside Tyre village.

Moe rested his back against the wall of the pelican resting area and looked out through the entrance of the craft at the passing landscape below, the base moving further away into the distance. He sighed and wondered whether there would be any other Covenant at this farm they were heading to. It was definite by the descriptions the farmer had reported that there were Covenant at the farm, most likely to be Jackals, but what if there were any other Covenant soldiers there? If there were, then there definitely going to be one hell of a fight ahead of them.

**Fifteen minutes later**

**Location**: **Monet farm, half a mile outside Tyre village.**

Monet farm was made up of an old cottage with a ground floor and first floor. Parked out in front of it was a small pickup truck, the farmer's. It had a stable with several pens that led out in to the nearby field and a large granary, which was a large half-cylinder shape with a curved top. Around it were several small artificial fields of corn, just in case the harvest was bad one year. In the surrounding fields were growing crops that seemed to stretch on forever. In the middle of the field was a large shed with a hover combine harvester, which, although was smaller than the original past versions of combine harvesters, it could work faster, getting the job of working on the fields in a harvester done in under half the time it originally took.

Heading toward the farm was a pelican. Behind it was another pelican, both with seven marines in their resting areas, reaching a total of fourteen marines that were sent to this area to check out some disturbances that the farmer here had reported.

The two pelicans touched descended down towards the ground, their landing gear unfolding themselves and bringing the craft to a halt as it touched down onto the ground. The marines in the two craft jumped down onto the ground, their weapons, mainly battle rifles or assault rifles, in their hands.

**Camcorder's POV**

The camcorder screen shifted from side to side wildly as Moe ran with the other marines over to the cottage. A medium height and heavily built marine sergeant knocked on the wooden door. A second later, the door opened and an elderly man with grey hair and a short grey beard and dressed in a white top, jeans and a pair of trainers, opened the door.

_"B-bonjour," _he said nervously.

"Good day, sir," the marine sergeant replied. "We're the marines the UNSC nearby said they would send,"

"Oh, _oui_," the farmer replied. He stepped out of the house and pointed out into the nearby fields and began talking with the sergeant.

The camcorder scene shifted to face the ever stretching sea of crops all around them as Moe looked out into the field, along with much of the rest of the squad, to where the farmer was pointing at.

"How many do you think are out there?" Isaac asked.

"Can't be many," Moe replied. "Otherwise they would have stormed the cottage and burned it and the fields."

The others around him nodded in agreement. It could not a large Covenant force here, maybe just a few Jackals sent as spies. Nevertheless, they had to remain vigilant in case anymore Covenant had arrived since the farmer reported these disturbances.

"Alright, thank you, sir," the sergeant said to the farmer, drawing everyone's looks. The camcorder scene turned to face the sergeant and the farmer.

"_Merci," _he replied. "Pleaze, zolve thiz!" he pleaded in his struggling English.

"We will," the sergeant told the farmer. "You best get inside and stay there just in case something happens,"

The farmer nodded and walked back inside his house, closing the door behind him. The sergeant motioned everyone to walk towards the fields and keep their weapons raised. The camcorder scene turned again to face the fields and shifted from side to side slightly as Moe walked towards it with the other marines.

**Normal view**

"So what did he say?" one of the marines asked the sergeant.

"He said the disturbances began when he heard a few screeches out in the fields a few nights ago," the sergeant explained. "He heard nothing else for the next two nights and then, last night, one of his horses somehow escaped into the fields and he went out to look for it and he said he saw a few vulture-like creatures attack the horse, drag it to the ground and tear it apart. After that, he ran back to the house and locked the door and windows and called the base,"

"Do you think It's Covenant?" another marine asked.

"It's gotta be," the sergeant replied. "But how many and if there's any others, I don't know,"

The marine squad spread out slightly as they reached the fields. Their weapons raised and their vigilance level at It's height, the marines cautiously entered the sea of crops. They knew anything could be hiding within these fields and if there were Covenant here, it would be a perfect opportunity for them to launch a surprise attack on the marines.

As the moved across the field, some heading towards the shed, Moe looked over towards his left. He heard something.

**Camcorder's POV**

The scene moved from left to right as Moe scanned the area around him. A few others marines were doing the same. It was obvious to tell that they were all very nervous about being here. They were easy pickings for anything hiding in the crop fields.

"God, I know we're gonna get jumped," Moe said to himself.

**Normal view **

One of the marines, in the group of three, walking over towards the harvester shed looked both left and right as if he were expecting something to suddenly attack him. His finger was on the trigger of his battle rifle, ready to open fire on anything that attacked him.

SCRATCH! SCRATCH!

The marine aimed his weapon over towards the shed. That was where the scratching sound was coming from and there was no way it was coming from a horse or any other animal here.

"Keep your weapon ready," the marine whispered to those with him. "I think we got something behind the shed,"

The other marines nodded and, cautiously, stepped towards the shed, their fingers on their weapons' triggers. As they stepped closer to the shed, the scratching got louder. By the sounds of it, something was either trying to get through the wall or was trying to climb up the side of the shed to get onto the roof. If the farmer was right about what was going on here, it was probably one of the Jackals trying to get into a position to surprise them. Well, they were going to surprise it first.

"Go ahead the shed," the marine whispered to his comrades. "I think there's a Jackal on the other side of the shed,"

The other two marines nodded and moved as quietly as they could towards the shed, both going around it. The marine walked towards a side entrance door on the side of the shed and opened it quietly. He peeked his head into the building and looked around. In front of him was a large vehicle that was shaped like a combine harvester, but it was hovering several feet of the ground and it was smaller than the original combine harvester versions. The marine raised his weapon and stepped forward into the shed.

"AAAAHHHHHH!"

The marine flew forward onto the ground, a smoking hole at the back of his head. A purple beam disappeared into thin air behind him, and it was coming from…

"The farmhouse!" the sergeant shouted as the rest of the squad had turned to see who had yelled out. "Get to it, quickly!"

BANG! The sound of a burst of ammo being fired filled the air, followed by a loud screech and a creature that looked like a featherless mutated vulture standing on It's hind legs flew out from behind the shed onto the ground. It was a Jackal. The two marines ran out from behind the shed.

"We got one," one of them said.

"Alright, move, move!" the sergeant ordered.

The squad ran towards the farmhouse, turning left and right to try and avoid any further sniper fire.

**Camcorder's POV**

The scene shifted wildly from side to side as Moe ran towards the cottage, every shift in the scene being followed by a breath.

"C'mon, keep up!" the sergeant shouted out.

"Argh!" the scene suddenly changed from a view of the sea of crops, two pelicans and the cottage and stable to a complete blanket of gold, followed by another gasp of pain. Moe had fallen over as he ran.

"C'mon, Moe! Get up!" a voice shouted to him as the sergeant ran up to him.

Staggering, this could be told by the camcorder scene dropping suddenly, Moe got up and continued on towards the cottage. As he ran, the camcorder caught another purple beam fire out from the top floor of the cottage and hit the ground in front of another marine a few metres in front of Moe. The marine returned fire on the cottage, which was followed by the sound of glass crashing loudly but no screech followed after that. The marine had missed.

Moe ran left and then right, and then left again and then right again, desperately trying to avoid the Jackal that was taking cover in the top floor of the cottage. As he got closer, the camcorder caught another purple laser shoot out from the top floor window of the cottage and strike another marine that had run in front of Moe. The marine fell to the ground and lay still. Moe swore angrily as he passed the marine's body and fired a burst of ammo at the top floor window of the cottage, hoping to kill the Jackal. He failed as after the bullets struck the building, another purple laser shot out from the window and narrowly miss the sergeant's head.

**Normal view**

Finally, after several hectic moments of running for their lives, the marines reached the cottage and threw themselves against the sides of it, breathing heavily, and not just because they had been running, but also because they had all narrowly avoided being killed. Well, they were safe, for the moment at least. Now they had to get into the building and kill the Jackal, or Jackals.

"Get the farmer to open the door," the sergeant ordered.

A marine next to the door nodded and banged loudly on the door with his hand.

"Monet, open up!" he shouted. No response. He pounded the door harder with his fist. "Monet, open the door. There's Jackals in your house!"

CRASH! The body of the farmer was suddenly launched through the window above and fell to the ground. The marines looked at it and saw that the farmer had a large wound on his chest. By the looks of it, he had been shot by a plasma pistol.

The marine sergeant growled.

"Damnit!" he said.

"What do we do?" Moe asked the sergeant.

"Throw your grenades in there!" the sergeant ordered as soon as Moe finished speaking.

The soldiers obeyed and took out their fragmentation grenades, pulled the pins and, after smashing the windows with their rifle butts, threw them into the building and covered their ears.

_BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! _

The explosions rocked the house and were so powerful that they even blew the front door off It's hinges onto the ground. A moment later, once the dust had settled, the sergeant raised his weapon and pointed it into the building and looked in.

The front room, which was a the room the two windows led to, was a complete mess. The sofa and two single chairs were torn apart with the remains left scattered across the floor, a holo-television set on a small counter on the right wall was smashed, a few ornaments on a shelf lay broken and scattered about and the light bulb hanging down from the ceiling, along with the covering around it, and a few lamps on several small cabinets were broken and smashed with the remains scattered across the floor.

The sergeant stepped into the room, moving his weapon left and right and keeping his finger on the trigger, ready to fire on any Covenant that confronted him. It was when he saw the stairs on the right wall near another doorway that led into the kitchen at the back of the house, that he saw a dead body lying on the floor. It was a Jackal. On the floor next to it was It's plasma pistol. The grenades had killed one and another had been killed out in the fields. That was two dead, but how many more were left?

"Clear," the sergeant said to his marines.

**Camcorder's POV**

The scene rose and shifted again as Moe got up and moved into the house, revealing the destruction caused by the grenades to the camera. The sergeant, in the centre screen, turned to face the marines.

"There's more of 'em upstairs," he said. "Get your weapons ready,"

Clicking sounds and movement were picked up by the camcorder's sound receiver. The marines were reloading their weapons, ready for the gunfight ahead of them.

When they were done, the sergeant moved ahead towards the stairs. The camcorder scene then began to shift from side to side as he followed the sergeant. Behind him, the camcorder picked up the sounds of movement as other members followed.

**Normal view**

When they reached the stairs, the squad, as quietly as they could, walked up the stairs. At the top, a corridor with three doors along the walls, two on the left and one of the right, became visible. The squad saw the corridor as they emerged one-by-one from the stairs, but now they were left with a problem. Where were the Jackals hiding? It was obvious they were behind the doors on the left wall, but which one?

"Sneak up to 'em," the sergeant whispered. "Take 'em by surprise,"

The squad nodded and moved down the corridor. Four placed themselves either side of the first door against the wall. Another four did the same to the second door, Moe among them.

**Camcorder's POV  
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The camcorder's sound receiver picked up heavy breathing coming from behind the device, which was also noticeable as the image on the screen seemed to grow and then shrink every second. It was obvious Moe was nervous about what was to happen. For all he knew, the Covenant could be waiting for them as they most likely heard the explosions downstairs.

"On three," the sergeant, who was standing in front of the first door and whose voice was picked up by the camcorder's sound receiver, said. "One…two-" at this point, Moe took a quiet deep breath, which was noticeable as the camcorder screen seemed to withdraw away back towards the stairs. "-Three!"

Suddenly, the camcorder's screen was filled with movement that was so fast, the picture shook wildly and it was hard to determine what was what. Also, blasts filled the screen. The sound receiver had picked up a lot as well. The sounds of gunfire, blast fire and shouting and screeches filled the air for the next few seconds until it all calmed down.

The sound receiver then picked up a sigh of relief from Moe.

**Normal view**

The squad lowered their weapons and looked around the room they were in. It was a large rectangular room with wooden walls, floor and ceiling. There was one window on the wall in front of the group who had broken through the first door and on the floor below it was the body of a dead Jackal, it's beam rifle on the floor beside it. On the floor in front of the group that had broken through the second door were two more dead Jackals, their plasma pistols on the floor beside them. These two must have been protecting the one at the window but the double attack through both of the doors that led into the room surprised them and both were killed.

The sergeant picked up a radio from his pocket and moved it near his lips.

"Command, this is the squad sent to the farmer's house," he said. "The farmer is dead but we discovered and taken out five Covenant Jackals, over,"

_"Roger that," _a voice replied from the radio. _"Report back to base,"_

The sergeant nodded and turned to his men. "Alright, we're heading back to base," he told them.

"What about the farmer?" one of the marines asked.

"We'll give him a quick burial here," the sergeant answered.


	23. A troubling idea

**Thirty minutes later**

The two pelicans hovered down towards a small LZ next to one of the airfield hangers. The landing gear unfolded themselves and brought the craft to a halt as it touched down on the ground. When the craft came to a halt, the remaining marines jumped down off of the craft onto the ground. They had just returned from a small skirmish at Monet farm with a group of five Jackals. The farmer, Monet, had been killed by the Jackals, along with two marines. The sergeant had wanted to bury him at the farm, but they then decided to bring him to the base and put him in the hospital morgue for burial later with the other two marines.

Moe, holding his camcorder in his hands, walked back towards his barracks, his battle rifle slung over his shoulder, with Isaac and Jerry. They were going to show the footage of the battle to the others in the barracks.

"They'll like this," Isaac said.

"Yeah, they will," Moe replied.

"When we're done showing them the footage, can we use it?" Jerry asked eagerly.

"Jeez, you will calm down!" Moe told him. "Look, I will let you use it. Just be patient will you,"

"Alright, sorry,"

When the three reached the barracks, they entered and walked over to a small table in the middle of the barracks where Alan, Michael and four other soldiers were gathered around at. Michael looked down the barracks when he heard the door open and saw them.

"Hey guys!" he exclaimed. "Glad you're still alive! Come on, sit down,"

The three did so, Moe sitting on the end left seat next to Alan and Jerry and Isaac sitting on the last two seats on the right across from him next to Michael.

"So what happened at Monet farm?" Alan asked them.

"I'll show you," Moe replied.

He held the camera in front of him and pressed a small button at the back of it. A light blue holographic screen appeared in the air above the object and widened until it formed a screen about the size of a motorbike. A section of holographic buttons, labelled _play_, _stop_, _pause_, _FF _(Fast Forward) and _RW_ (Rewind), appeared at the bottom of the screen and Moe pressed the play button. At once footage appeared of when they were moving out into the crop fields searching for the Covenant soldiers. After a few minutes, a scream sounded off to the left and the screen turned left to see a soldier fall to the ground at the side entrance to the combine harvester shed. A purple beam disappeared just as the screen faced the shed.

"I take it that was a Jackal," Alan asked to which Moe, Jerry and Isaac nodded at.

"Five of 'em," Moe told him.

After a loud screech sounded from the shed, the footage from the camera screen shook wildly from side to side as Moe ran towards the farmhouse cottage with the rest of the squad. A few purple beams shot out of the top window of the house at the squad, hitting one marine that passed in front of Moe but they managed to make it to the cottage. Then, they all jumped when a loud crash erupted above them and the screen turned right to see the body of the farmer fall to the ground a few metres from them.

"Whoa!" one of the marines said. "I wasn't expecting that!"

"Neither were we when we were there," Isaac replied. "We didn't even know the Covenant had gotten into the house until we lost one of the soldiers at the shed,"

Just then, the door to the barracks opened up and an officer stepped in.

"Corporals Moe, Jerry and Isaac, over here," he ordered.

Sighing in annoyance the three got up but as Isaac and Jerry walked over to the officer, Moe turned to the soldiers.

"When you're done watching it, leave the camcorder on my bed," he told them.

Alan and Michael nodded and Moe walked off over to the officer, who led them out of the barracks to the HQ building for debriefing on the mission.

However, when he left, Alan and Michael realised that Moe had left their camcorder with them. They had wanted to use it and…now Moe was no longer around to make sure they did not. They looked at the camcorder, then at each other and smiled.

They had an idea. A good idea to them, but it was really a troubling idea.


	24. A disaster with the camcorder

**Five minutes later**

**Camcorder's POV  
>12:41:03:57pm<strong>

The camera screen shook as the soldier holding it entered the mess hall where a few others soldiers were sitting around eating their lunch. Behind the soldier were five others, among them Michael. It was obvious they had taken Moe's camcorder when he had told them to leave it on his bed when they were done watching the footage of the battle at the farm and were now showing off with it. Oh, this was sowing the seeds for trouble.

"Nice!" Alan's voice, which was picked up the camcorder's sound receiver, exclaimed. "Got HD and extended memory and everything!"

"Don't hog it forever then!" came Michael's voice. "I wanna use it as well,"

Their talking had attracted the attention of a few nearby soldiers, some of who admired the camcorder, but one knew it was Moe's.

"Did he say you could use it?" the soldier, who the camcorder screen was fixed on, asked them.

"O-of course he did," Alan replied, stammering a little.

"Yeah, yeah he said have fun with it," one of the soldiers, off screen, in the group with Alan and Michael added.

Alan zoomed in the camcorder screen in a little towards the soldier who had warned them against using Moe's camcorder. He was not very happy about it.

"Get that thing outta my face!" he said.

"Alright, sorry," Alan replied and the screen faced the pathway going down the side of the barracks where the soldiers were going up and collecting food being served to them on rollers coming out of the walls. "Let's get something to eat," he said.

The others agreed and Alan passed the camcorder to Michael, who began showing footage of the mess hall.

"Actually, Barry has a point," one of the marines', who was part of the group, said and Michael turned to face him with the camcorder screen. "What if Moe finds out we were using it for showing off when we told him we would leave it on his bed?" he asked.

"Well, he'll be out in debriefing in about twenty minutes," Michael replied. "We'll take it back and leave it on his bed and he'll never know,"

"What about the footage of this?" the soldier pressed on. "What if he sees it?"

"Well then we'll delete it as we're taking it back towards the barracks," Michael replied. "He won't see it, he'll never know we showed off with it and we'll be in the clear, okay?"

The soldier thought about it for a moment before he just shrugged and nodded in agreement as if to say: _"Yeah, he does have a point," _and Michael resumed showing footage of the mess hall. A few nearby soldiers gave the camcorder the thumbs up but another just walked past, obviously not happy about being caught on film.

"Michael, you're up," Alan's voice said to him.

The screen turned left to see Alan walk down among the tables towards a free one near the right end of the mess hall. Michael walked over to the wall picked up a tray and chose a sandwich that was passing on the roller. However, as he did so, he inadvertently set the camcorder down onto the roller and it was taken into the walls.

**Normal view**

Michael went to walk off when one of the marines noticed something.

"Hey, Michael, where's the camcorder?" he asked.

Michael paused for a second…then realised.

"OH CRAP!" he yelled, causing about everyone in the mess hall to turn their head in his direction and he ran back towards the roller, dropping his tray and sandwich on the floor with a clang, and thrust his hand into the hole where the roller went into, trying to grab the camcorder.

"What's going on?" Alan asked as he ran over, along with a few others who had come over to see what the fuss was about.

"Michael left the camcorder on the roller and It's gone in there," one of the marines replied, pointing into the hole.

"Well, alright, we'll just have to wait until it comes out again on the next roller," Alan said, trying to reassure them.

He looked over at the next roller, where cups of water and coke were coming out of the hole and walked over to it. Michael and everyone else over at the hole came over as well and waited patiently. A few seconds passed but no camcorder came out of the hole. They began to get nervous. Where was it?

Finally, and relieving, the camcorder came out of the hole on the roller, though it was a little shinier than when it went in. As Alan picked it up, it almost fell out of his hands. It…it was wet. His eyes went wide, which the others around him noticed.

"What's wrong?" one of the marines asked him.

"It's wet," he replied in a worried voice as he tried to turn the camcorder on, but it would not work. He pressed all the buttons on it but still nothing happened. He gulped. "And It's not waterproof," he added.

At these words, Michael, Alan and the four other marines that had been part of the group that had taken Moe's camcorder stared at each other with side eyes. Another marine, however, chuckled a little.

"Oh, you guys are so dead," he told them. "When Moe sees what you've done to his camcorder, he is gonna murder you,"

Alan and Michael glared at him, but the marine was right. They were not going to be able to work their way out of this one. When Moe saw what they had done to his new camcorder, they were going to be in for a heap of trouble. He was going to go mental.

**Ten minutes later**

The group had debated for several minutes over what to do with the camcorder now that it was not working. They had thought about throwing it away and saying they lost it, but decided not to as Moe would blame them for losing it and that would be no better then what would happen if he did find out they had broken it. Michael then thought about saying that they had left it on his bed and gone to the mess hall but he had come back to get something and say it was gone and say someone had obviously nicked it. No, that was ignored as well.

Eventually, they decided that they would take it back and wait for Moe to come back and get it and when he found it was not working, they would say it was fine when they had left it on his bed and say something, or someone else, must have done something to it that was the reason it was no longer working.

The group, who had come to a halt outside the barracks, made a quick check around to make sure Moe was not coming. He was not. They were safe.

"Alright, let's leave it on his bed and get back to the mess hall quickly," Alan reminded them and they nodded.

They opened the door and their eyes went wide.

Moe was kneeling down at his bed, looking underneath it. On his bed was the box he had kept his stuff in. He heard the door open and turned his head to look at them.

"Hey guys," he called. "Do you know where my camcorder is?"

Michael, who was holding the camcorder, hid it behind his back. Alan smiled nervously.

"We left it on your bed, just like you said," he replied. "Didn't we, guys,"

They all nodded. "Yeah, we left it there and didn't do anything with it," the marine standing next to Michael said.

Moe sighed in annoyance. "Well, it's gone. I don't know where it is,"

Alan faked a surprised look. "Whoa. I wonder what's happened to it?" he asked himself, lying through his teeth.

"Well, come and help me look for it, will ya,"

The group looked at each other, wide-eyed, and walked on down the barracks towards Moe's bed. As they reached it, he looked up at them and saw they looked a little nervous.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked.

They nodded, smiling a little, but they were not fooling anyone. Moe stood up.

"Alright, something's up that you're not telling me," he said to them. "What is it?"

Alan and Michael looked at each other for a second, debating whether they should continue trying to their plan or not, before Alan sighed.

"Well," he began. "We, uh, kinda didn't leave your camcorder on your bed like you told us,"

Moe stared at them, a little shocked and annoyed. "Well, where is it?" he asked them. "What have you done with it?"

Again, Alan and Michael looked at each other before Michael, closing his eyes a little as if he feared Moe was going to hit him when he saw what was in his hand, moved his hand from behind his back and revealed the camcorder. Moe looked at it and then up at them.

"Well, what's wrong with it?" he asked.

"Um…take a look," Alan replied.

Moe took the camcorder from Michael and looked over all of it. There was no damage to it. No scratches or bits missing or anything like that. It looked absolutely fine.

"There's nothing wrong with it," he said.

"Well, try it out," Alan told him.

Moe did so. He pressed the start button, but nothing came up. His eyes went wide and pressed all of the buttons to try and get it working. It was broken internally.

The group could tell he was angry because he began to breathe heavily and the camcorder shook a little in his hand. Then, he looked up at them.

"What did you do to it?" he asked in a dangerous whisper. None of them replied, too scared to do so. "What happened to it?" he asked again, this time his voice was more dangerous.

"We…um, we were showing off with it," Alan began, stammering a little. "And….I, uh, gave it to Michael and he…well, accidentally set it down on one of the rollers in the mess hall and…when we went to get it, it got wet and-"

That was enough. Moe sighed hard and set the camcorder down on his bed.

"Well, thanks a lot, guys," he told them. "Thanks a lot! You really are good friends, aren't you? I give you my camcorder to watch footage and yet you break it. Thanks a lot!"

He sat down on his bed and picked up the camcorder again and opened up the side of it to assess the damage to the memory card. Alan rested a hand on his friend's shoulder but Moe pushed it off.

"Moe, we didn't mean to do it!" Alan told him.

"Of course you didn't," Moe replied sarcastically. "Just leave me alone!"

Alan sighed and looked at the others, who decided it was best to leave Moe alone and walked towards the barracks entrance. Alan joined them, and when he reached the barracks entrance, he looked back at Moe, sighed again and walked out, the door closing behind them.

Moe threw the camcorder back into his box. This was just great! His friends had messed around his camcorder and now they had broken it. His mother was going to kill him when he sent her a letter to tell her the camcorder was broken. He would just have to hope she would not be too angry with him.

As for his friends, he would not be talking to them for a while. Perhaps it was best if they left him to cool down from what had happened today. How long it would take, though, neither he nor they could tell. Hopefully, it would not be too long.


	25. Battle of Sukuki city

**Five days later**

**October 1****st**** 2551**

For the past five days, Moe had rarely talked to his friends after the incident with the camcorder. They had tried to apologize to him but he was not having any of it. He, though, did feel a bit guilty of shunning them when they tried to apologize to him but then again they did take something that was his and new and broke it so they could not just think he would shake their hands and everything would be alright with them. He would eventually get over it, but for now he just did not want to accept their apologies.

Today, however, he was thinking of making up with them because he and his friends were in a pelican that was heading towards the city of Sukuki, along with tens of other pelicans. Some carrying warthogs and mongooses, others carrying heavy weapons pods attached to the back of the ship just in front of the entrance to the craft.

Sukuki, as explained before, had been under siege by the Covenant for about a month now. Though most of It's population had managed to escape, there were several hundred still trapped throughout the city. The UNSC was doing everything it could to rescue them and get them to safety whilst trying to drive back the Covenant, but both were proving hard, the second almost hopeless. The Covenant were just unstoppable and no matter what the UNSC was doing to fight them, it was defeated everywhere. Already, large swathes of Takra had been glassed or taken by the Covenant and now with Sukuki under threat of falling to the Covenant, a large portion of Takra, including the main defence to Rodum, the largest city on Takra, would fall. It was just hopeless now. Humanity had no chance of winning back Takra. They could only hope to hold back the Covenant long enough for the civilian population to escape to their home system.

As the pelicans flew off the fields and over the first few suburbs of Sukuki, Moe, who was in one of the pelicans at the front of the large formation, looked down at them. Though they were almost a thousand feet in the air, he could just make out the many warthogs and civilian vehicles moving away from the city and onto the main roads that led out of Sukuki, into the surrounding lands. Everyone left was content with getting out. By the looks of it, they had managed to rescue almost everyone left, but there were probably still more left in the city and they needed to be rescued.

The cog pit door opened and the co-pilot stuck his head out. "Get ready, men. We're entering the hot zone,"

The men reached under their seats and took out their weapons. Moe's was a battle rifle and he reached into his pocket and loaded a clip into it. Next to him was Alan. He had a SR S99C sniper rifle in his hand and he loaded a clip into it. Alan looked at Moe to try and see reason with him but his friend just looked away, obviously still not wanting anything to do with trying to make up with him.

As the pelicans flew further on, the scene below them began to change. Rather than suburbs with parks and small houses and corner shops, the marine began to see devastation. Several buildings were on fire whilst others were completely destroyed. Then, far on ahead of them, the city skyscrapers came into view. Most of them were burning and there was a large cloud of black smoke that seemed to cover the entire sky as if it were a wall of darkness descending over them. Then, large shapes were visible over, in or below the clouds of smoke. Covenant ships, mainly CCS battle cruisers with about two assault carriers. Every now and then, one of the Covenant ships would fire a purple laser down onto the city, creating an explosion that would engulf an entire building(s) and bring untold death and destruction to whoever was within them.

"Jesus Christ," the pilot of Moe's pelican gasped, which the marines heard from the resting area. "It's like the end of the world."

_It is, in a way _Moe mentally replied to the pilot's words.

"_All pelicans, break formation immediately. We have reports of Covenant aircraft and AA defences in the city. Make your way to the LZ's as quickly as you can and stay low!" _a voice ordered from the radio in the cog pit.

At once, Moe was almost launched into the wall behind him as the pelican veered right. Looking out of the pelican's entrance, he saw other pelicans either bank right, following his pelican, left or fly onwards or descend, disappearing into the mass of buildings below.

Then, a large wave of craft swept out from the right, the direction of the city centre from Moe's point of view, appeared all of a sudden and fired on a few pelicans that had decided to fly onwards. Covenant banshees. Moe and the marines in the resting area with him watched as one of the pelicans was hit and rolled over as it fell towards the ground, a tail of fire coming out of It's right wing from where a barrage of blasts from the banshee had struck it. Another pelican was struck by an ion blast from another banshee. The craft exploded in a fireball and broke in two, the remains falling down towards the ground far below.

"My God," Michael, who was sitting across from Alan, whispered, though it was loud enough for the others in the resting area to hear him, as he watched the remains of the pelican disappear behind a small skyscraper. "We got away just in time,"

"Get ready back there!" the co-pilot ordered. "We're about to descend!"

The marines checked their weapons and stood up, holding onto the side of the resting area entrance walls or the small pens, just above them, for weapons and ammunition. They felt the pelican descend watched as the cityscape buildings seemed to grow. However, as the pelican descended closer to the ground, the marines could hear explosions and, though only just, the sounds of mechanical whirring and the sounds of something going off as if something was being fired continuously.

Then, the craft stopped all of sudden, which almost threw the marines off their balance, and began to descend. The marines watched as the landing gear either side of the pelican entrance unfolded themselves and touched down on the metal platform of the LZ, bringing the craft to a halt.

"Everyone out, go, go, go!" the pilot ordered.

The marines jumped out onto the ground, Jerry and Isaac coming off last. Moe gazed at the sights around him and went wide-eyed. What he was seeing was beyond belief.

Many of the surrounding skyscrapers were burning, some of the fires stretching from the middle all the way to the top. Other nearby buildings were completely destroyed. Explosions filled the sky and every few seconds, as he looked up at the sky, a smoking vehicle, a Covenant seraph fighter, banshee or drop ship or a UNSC long sword fighter, hornet fighter or pelican, fell out of the sky, either into a another building, which would only spread the fire, or they would fall between them to the ground far below.

"This way!" a voice behind the squad shouted and Moe looked over his shoulder to see a marine sergeant order them to follow him across this walkway towards a small office-like stone building about three hundred feet away.

Moe joined the marines as they ran across the walkway towards the building, looking down over the side to see the ground about two hundred and fifty feet below, but what was on it he could not tell as there was smoke rising from the base of many buildings as well as destroyed vehicles, both Human and Covenant, though he could see green, blue and red lights illuminate the cloud of smoke below it, indicating there was heavy fighting going on below it.

The squad reached the building and were led through a side entrance into a large square shaped room which would have been an officer room but the usual cubicles, computers and tables and chairs were gone, all having been thrown out to make room for the marines to set up a command post. There were a few tables left, but they were no longer holding computers or papers for officer workers in meetings. Now they were holding UNSC army equipment such as radios, weapons and ammunition and even wounded soldiers. Scattered around the room were several other soldiers, some talking into radios, others giving orders to other marines. One marine was standing over the door on the walkway side, keeping an eye out for any Covenant craft that might try and land here. On the wall opposite the doorway that led into the room from the pathway was an open doorway that led into a stairwell.

The sergeant led the marines over to the stairwell.

"Head downstairs to the next floor," he told them, pointing down the stairs. "Commander Gofer'll meet you there,"

The sergeant ran back into the room. The squad ran down the stairs to the landing at the bottom and then turned and ran down the next flight of stairs to the next landing where another open doorway on the left wall was. The squad ran through the doorway into another large square shaped room with a large table that had been overturned and put against the wall the doorway was on. On the opposite wall were several large windows, each separated by a panel that came down from the ceiling to the floor. Most of them were smashed open and there were marines standing at them, some with sniper rifles, and others with binoculars. A few other marines and officers and sergeants were scattered around the room. One sergeant who was standing over at a doorway on the right wall of the room looked over at the squad.

"You lot, over here!" he ordered.

The squad obeyed and ran over to the sergeant. Moe took in the sergeant's form as they reached him. He was quite short, around about his height or maybe about an inch or two shorter, with black hair, green eyes and had muscles that were visible through his uniform. Across his chest was the name 'Gofer', hence letting the squad know they had found their sergeant, and their commander.

"You guys the squad I've been given to command?" he asked and before any of them could reply, he said "Good, now follow me,"

The sergeant turned and ran out of the doorway. The squad looked at each other and followed. The sergeant led them down another few flight of stairs, every two passing another floor, until they finally reached the ground floor, where the doorway was on the right wall and it led outside into a war torn street where the sounds of battle were flooding into their ears like water flowing in a river. Gofer took out a M6C pistol from his pocket and loaded a clip into it.

"Get ready," he told them. "We're in for a tough fight,"

The men raised their weapon and Gofer ran out ahead of them into the street.

It was chaos that greeted them as soon as they left the building. The street was long and had many small side streets going off from the left and right. Most buildings along the bottom were small shops of officer buildings, but there were a few entrances that led into the tall skyscrapers that stuck out in the city. Now, however, most of these were on fire and the street was littered with rubble from the surrounding buildings and destroyed ground and air vehicles, both Covenant and UNSC, as well as many bodies of fallen soldiers, again both Covenant and UNSC, and civilians, which were scattered all around them. Blasts were shooting down the street from one direction and rockets and bullets would reply from the other.

Gofer looked left and saw a scorpion tank positioned in the middle of the street. A marine was kneeling down on the side of it next to the section that held the main cannon, firing down the street. Next to the scorpion tank were the remains of two machine gun warthogs, both of which were burning, and standing behind and next to them were more marines, firing down the street. Gofer then looked right and saw a Covenant shade turret, a large sphere shaped section with three huge legs sticking out of the bottom of it in a triangle formation with a seat hovering above it with three large metal thorn-like bits sticking out of the front, A Grunt sitting in the turret, firing down the street. Alongside it were several Covenant Jackals and Elites firing down the street, the Jackals hiding behind their shields and moving them down to their sides to fire down the street at their Human enemies every now and then and the Elites, some standing in full view of the Humans, others hiding behind the remains of destroyed vehicles and firing at the Humans with the plasma rifles.

"This way, we'll charge 'em!" Gofer said.

"What?" Michael half-shouted in surprise, obviously shocked, but he was not the only one as the rest of the squad were shocked to know they were going to charge headfirst into the Covenant forces. Gofer, who had taken a step forward to charge out towards the Covenant, stopped in his tracks.

"Don't 'what' me. Come on!" he shouted at them and, with that, he ran out into the street towards the Covenant, firing away with his pistol at the Covenant. Moe sighed and ran after him. The others did the same.

As soon as they were in the street, they were met with disaster. A blast from the shade turret struck one of the marines in the face, killing him. Another blast from a Jackal only just missed Moe's head and struck a burning ghost behind him. Moe raised his battle rifle and fired a burst of ammo at the Covenant soldiers, hitting a Jackal that had moved It's shield to It's side to fire on them. The creature screeched loudly and fell backwards onto the ground, dead. The rest of the squad open fired on the Covenant as well, Michel and Alan's bullets hitting and killing an Elite, but they were quickly forced to take cover behind anything nearby.

Moe dived forward behind the burning remains of a mongoose that was behind the crushed remains of a car. However, he saw he was not alone. Next to him was Gofer, breathing heavily and wide-eyed as if he was in shock. At once, anger filled Moe and he grabbed Gofer by the chest and pulled him towards him.

"What the Hell were you thinking?" he shouted at him. "Are you even experienced in combat?"

"Of course I am, you idiot!" Gofer replied, pushing Moe off him, which was a hard push, coming only from his strength. "I've been in the UNSC for two years!"

_Well, you're not a good commander, are you! _Moe thought. _Charging a Covenant position is suicide! You should know that, you idiot!"_

BOOM! An explosion threw a large chunk of another vehicle, a few metres away on the other side of the mongoose, over their heads to the ground next to them. Michael, who was hiding behind part of the remains of a warthog, stood up and fired a burst of ammo that flew over their heads. A loud roar erupted behind the mongoose and two light blue blasts flew over their heads, both hitting Michael in the face.

"MICHAEL!" Moe yelled.

He got up, not caring that he was in the line of fire of the Covenant forces, ran over to his friend, who fell down to the ground, and knelt down beside him. He put two fingers on Michael's pulse and gasped quietly. No. H-he was dead!

A hand grabbed Moe and pulled him behind the warthog remains. Moe looked up and saw it was Alan.

"I can't believe him," Moe said to Alan, obviously referring to Gofer. "He doesn't even know how to lead us!"

Alan did not reply, but Moe could tell he was angry as he was glaring at Gofer, and stood up and fired a shot from his sniper rifle at the Covenant forces. A yell erupted from them and Moe looked to see the Grunt fall out of the turret onto the ground. Gofer was occasionally firing shots out from behind the mongoose at them, all of which were nowhere near hitting their target.

Suddenly…

BOOM! Another explosion, though this one was more powerful, erupted above them. The Covenant and the squad looked up to see a large portion of rubble from a nearby skyscraper falling…directly towards them!

Without bothering to tell his men to run, Gofer got up and ran towards the UNSC positions behind them. The squad followed him. The Covenant roared and screeched and fled as well, all of them trying to get away from the rubble as quickly as they could.

**CRASH! **The rubble slammed into the ground with such force that a large hole was made in the street and some members of the squad even fell over as they ran from the shockwaves caused by the crash. A cloud of dust sprang out in all directions from the rubble, covering much of the street and making visibility near impossible.

Moe, who had been in the middle of the street, in line with the doorway they had exited the officer building from, and had fallen onto the ground when the rubble fell, got up and brushed the dust off him, grimacing a little. He was going to need a Hell of a shower when he got back to the base, but enough of that now. He had to make sure everyone else was alright.

"Everyone alright?" he shouted through the dust cloud.

"Yeah," came a marine's voice.

"I'm okay," came Alan's voice.

Moe walked forward, trying to find the source of the voices. He could still hear the sounds of the battle raging throughout the city and he could hear other voices nearby shouting. He just had to find them and they could regroup.

Finally, the dust cloud began to clear and Moe could easily make out his friends and comrades. They ran towards the Human positions at the end of the road, where they saw Gofer talking to another sergeant over what to do next.

"We've got word the Covenant is stepping up their advance here," the sergeant said to him, which the squad heard as they reached the Human positions. "High Command is ordering everyone to fall back to the next line of defence in the Kiva district."

"You go on, we'll hold the line here," Gofer told him, which shocked the sergeant a little. "Let 'em know who owns this place,"

"What are you talking about: holding the line?" Moe asked Gofer furiously. "You heard what he said, High Command wants everyone to fall back to the next defensive position!"

"Well, I will make sure that they do whilst we make a heroic stand," Gofer replied. He turned back to the sergeant. "You go on. Me and my men'll wait here for the Covenant,"

The sergeant paused for a second, staring at Gofer as if he too thought this idea of his was crazy, before he nodded and walked behind the remains of one of the warthogs and shouted an order. Moe walked up to Gofer.

"What the Hell are you thinking?" he asked. "You know we can't make a stand here,"

"Well, you haven't learned that some decisions like this might have worked," Gofer replied and he walked over to the remains of a nearby banshee and climbed on top of them and loaded another clip into his pistol.

Moe glared at him as he walked off. This sergeant was a suicidal maniac. He wanted them to make a stand, more like offer themselves as sacrifices to the Covenant! They were as good as dead if they stayed here and tried to make a stand.

"Alright, Gofer's men are going to hold this position!" the sergeant Gofer had been talking said. "This way," he ordered.

The sergeant and his men climbed onto the tank, one of his men climbing into the tank's driving seat and closing the hatch behind him, and reversed the tank back down the street, turned it around and drove forward to the end of the street, turning right at the end and disappearing from sight.

"Alright, take up positions," Gofer ordered. "We'll get ready for the Covenant advance. Make a stand here, men!"

Moe and Alan looked at each other and shook their heads in disbelief. Isaac and Jerry ran over to them.

"Hey, guys," Isaac said. "Where's Michael?" he asked.

At these words, Alan and Moe looked at each other. Moe then sighed and looked at Isaac and Jerry with a dead look on his face as if it would signal what had happened to Michael. It had worked for Isaac and Jerry looked down at the ground, now knowing their comrade had been killed.

"We'll mourn him later," Alan said to them. "Right now, we have to try and hold o-"

BOOM! BOOM! Two enormous explosions suddenly blew apart the wall of rubble where the Covenant forces had been a few minutes earlier. Another cloud of dust and smoke filled the air in front of it. Then, a barrage of blasts, light blue and green, and purple needler projectiles flew out of the smoke towards them. One of the marines, who had taken up position on top of a destroyed civilian car, was hit in the chest by three needler projectiles and fell backwards onto the ground, dead.

"GET BEHIND COVER!" Alan yelled as the squad dived for somewhere to hide as more blasts flew out towards them. One narrowly missed Moe's head as he dived behind one of the destroyed warthogs that had been next to the scorpion tank, with Isaac. Jerry and Alan hid behind the other warthog with another marine.

"Argh! Ah!" Isaac gasped.

Moe looked at his friend and saw blood trickling out from his side. He had been hit!

"Oh God!" Moe whispered in fear under his breath. He had already lost one friend, he was not going to lose another one.

"I'm gonna get you outta here, Isaac," he told him.

Isaac nodded and put a hand over the wound and pressed down to try and stop the flow of blood. Moe looked out from behind his cover over at the doorway that led into the office building. If he could get Isaac over there, he could save him. Problem was…he looked over at the pile of rubble and saw a group of five Elites with many more Grunts and Jackals among them, all firing away at them. That was a lot of Covenant and they could easily fire on him and kill him and Isaac. It was suicidal, but it was either that or Isaac would die.

Moe looked over at Alan and Jerry and shouted to them: "Guys, give me covering fire!" and they nodded and fired a barrage at the Covenant, forcing them to take cover. They managed to hit and kill four Grunts as well as a Jackal but were forced to stop when two of the Elites and three of the Jackals returned fire on them, but they were distracted. Now was Moe's chance.

Picking up Isaac around the back and under the legs, which he struggled to do as he was a little taller than him and therefore heavier than him but managed to hold his balance, he moved towards the end of the warthog remains, keeping low to avoid attracting any attention from the Covenant. He took one more look behind him to make sure Alan, Jerry and the marine they were with were firing on the Covenant. They were.

Moe took a deep breath and ran.

One of the Elites rose up from behind the destroyed vehicle and fired at the marines, his shot narrowly missing the head of one of them. Damn! Well, it was close, and the next shot he would hit the Human. However, as he went to duck down, he noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. He looked and saw it was a Human, and he was fleeing towards the doorway of a nearby building!

"Over there! Kill them!" the Elite roared, pointing at the Human.

Moe was just a few metres from the door, and the medical outpost inside the building that could save Isaac, or at least stop the wound from bleeding. He was almost there! Just a little furth-"

WHAM! Moe and Isaac were sent crashing to the ground, Isaac yelling out as he landed on his injured side. Groaning in pain, Moe looked up to see someone getting to his feet in front of him. His eyes went wide as soon as they saw him, both in shock and anger.

It was Gofer. He-he was running and…and leaving them!

He did not even bother to say sorry, or even pick up his pistol that he had dropped when he had run into Moe, that he had run into them, he just ran on into the building. A few blasts zoomed after him, indicating he had been spotted by the Covenant.

"Oh great!" Moe muttered frustratingly. "Thanks a lot, Gofer, you bastard!"

There was probably a lot of Covenant a group of Covenant coming over here after them and now, thanks to Gofer, Moe and Isaac were dead. Mow was going to have to hurry if he was to get Isaac out of here.

As he moved over to Isaac, a large figure ran onto the pavement about ten feet in front of them. An Elite! The creature growled and aimed It's weapon at them. Moe gasped and grabbed Gofer's pistol and, before the Elite could react, fired a barrage of bullets at the creature, lighting up It's shield before, eventually, breaking through it and embedding a last bullet in It's skull, killing the Elite.

"AAAAHHH!" a high pitched voice screamed. "LEADER DEAD! RUN AWAY!"

Moe smiled a little at his move. He had probably not got rid of the group of Covenant that were coming over here to kill him and Isaac, but he had at least bought them some time, though he would have to be quick.

Getting up, but staying crouched down, he picked up Isaac and ran into the building, just in time as well as another of the Elites had taken charge of the Grunts that had been with the other Elite before Moe had killed it and was now leading over to the building. Moe ran up the stairs, his feet pounding loudly on them. He had to hurry and get to the medics so they could treat Isaac, or he was dead.

After several minutes of frantic stair climbing, Moe reached the room they had met Gofer in, only to find it completely empty! What the…? Where were the marines and sergeants and soldiers that had been in here?

"Sir, all of my men were killed," a voice said from the stairwell through the doorway at the other end of the room. Gofer's voice!

"Alright, sergeant. Get on board the pelican. I'm gonna make sure we haven't left anything important in the next room," another voice replied.

A second later, an officer holding a pistol appeared in the doorway. He saw Moe and Isaac as soon as he entered.

"What the…?" was all he could say at first.

"Sir, you got to help my friend," Moe told him.

"I thought Gofer said you were dead," the officer said to Moe

"Well…he-he lied!" Isaac replied. "He…ran in here…to-save…himself!"

"Kill them!" a deep voice shouted from the stairwell behind Moe.

Moe panicked and ran towards the other stairwell with the officer. Just in time as the squad of Covenant had reached the room and were looking around to see if they could find those Humans they were looking for.

However, they quickly forgot about them when the Elite looked out of one of the smashed windows and saw the group of marines still holding out in the street below. As he reached the window, another marine was hit and killed by a blast to the face, leaving only four left. The Elite laughed. The squad of Humans were all easy targets now they were up here above them. They could pick them off easily.

"Line up along the window!" the Elite ordered to his Grunts and they did so. The Elite then raised his weapon slightly so it was pointing down at the squad of Humans below. The Grunts did the same. "Prepare to fire on them," the Elite said.

Moe saw this and began to panic. He turned to the officer.

"Alright, look, you take him upstairs and get him on the next pelican," Moe whispered to the officer and thrust Isaac into his arms before the officer could reply and took his pistol.

"What are you doing?" the officer asked him, whispering furiously.

"I'm gonna save my friends. They're still alive. Now go, quickly," Moe replied.

The officer went to reply but decided it was best not to argue and ran up the stairs as quietly as he could. Moe stepped into the doorway and aimed his pistol at the Elite and rested his finger on the weapon's trigger. He had to kill the Elite quickly or his friends and he were all as good as dead.

"On my mark," the Elite said to his squad of Grunts. "Three…two…on-AAAAHHHH!"

Suddenly, the Elite was thrown forward out of the window. His roars continued to fill the air for the next few seconds until they came to an abrupt halt alongside a loud thud. At seeing this, the Grunts turned to see their enemy standing in the doorway…and screamed in panic.

"AAAHHHHH! He got leader! Run for your lives!" and they ran out of the room through the other doorway, hoping to get away from Moe before he killed them.

Moe ran over to the window and stuck his head out.

"Guys!" he shouted to his comrades, who were taking cover, and they looked up at him. "Get up here! We're leaving!"

Without bothering to ask why, which maybe was the best thing; the four remaining marines got up and ran towards the doorway that led into the building, firing at the Covenant forces as they did. They also fired on the four Covenant Grunts as they emerged from the building, killing three of them. When they finally reached the doorway, Alan, who told the other three to go on ahead, threw a fragmentation grenade at the Covenant forces. It exploded as he turned to run inside and a loud screech erupted from the dust cloud, indicating a Jackal had been killed.

Loud thuds from the stairwell indicated to Moe his friends were running up the stairs when they reached the room, he led them up the next stairwell back into the large office room where the officer and few remaining marines were hotwiring a large rectangular device with a small button panel on It's side. Above the button panel in a holographic timer that was set on **01:00**. The officer looked up from the other side of the device and saw the squad.

"Ah, good," he said. "We thought you were dead. Get on the pelican, quick," he ordered.

Alan, Jerry and the other two marines ran out of the building and down the pathway towards the pelican on the platform at the end. Moe, however, remained where he was.

"What is this?" he asked the officer.

"A bomb," he replied. " A little welcome gift for the Covenant when they get in here,"

A loud screech erupted from the stairwell. Moe, the officer and three remaining marines looked at the stairwell entrance wide-eyed and filled with panic. They were coming!

"Alright, go!" the officer ordered.

The three marines got up and ran to the pelican. The officer ran around to the other side of the bomb, the side facing Moe, and typed in a small code on the button panel. At once, a small beep emitted from the bomb and the timer started going down. **00:59**.** 00:58**. **00:57**.

"Alright, c'mon," the officer said to Moe and the two ran down the walkway towards the pelican.

As they reached it, a loud roar erupted behind them. Moe looked over his shoulder to see an Elite with about six Grunts and four Jackals run into the room they had just been in. The Elite had seen them and now the Covenant squad was going to do whatever it took to kill their Human enemies. Moe and the officer sprinted around the craft and were pulled on by the marines waiting for them.

"GET FLYING!" the officer yelled at the cog pit.

The pilots did not need telling twice. The pelican shook slightly as it hovered into the air; the landing gear folded themselves back up. Blasts struck the side of the craft, one striking the cog pit window and making it crack, but they did little damage and the pelican flew off into the air. As it did, Moe looked back at the building, waiting for the bomb to explode.

The Elite growled as the pelican flew off into the air. Their enemies had escaped! They were perfect targets, right there for the killing and they escaped! Oh, he was furious! Absolutely furious!

However, none of the Covenant noticed the device in the room behind them.

**00:03**

**00:02**

**00:01**

**00:00**

The officer walked to the back of the craft and looked out in the direction of the officer building as the pelican flew onwards away from the city and towards the suburbs of Sukuki.

"Has it gone off?" the officer asked.

He got his answer when…

BOOM! An explosion lit up the air, throwing large chunks of metal and stone and steel into the air and surrounding buildings. Everyone in the resting area, which was about fifteen men, looked and watched as the explosion died down.

The officer smiled. They had done it. Maybe not held back the Covenant advance in the city, but at least made sure they were not taking it without suffering heavy losses.

Moe felt the same way, but the smile quickly fell from his face as the pelican flew over the suburbs of the city. He watched as the CCs battle cruisers fired down on the city, causing untold death and destruction to those at the point of impact. It was not hard to tell he was upset, but not just because Sukuki had now pretty much fallen to the Covenant, but because one of his friends was dead and another was badly wounded, and all because of their stupid leader, Gofer. Oh, if he was here right now, Moe would throttle him!

He sighed and took a deep breath to calm down and looked back at the city as the pelican was about half-way over the suburbs.

With Sukuki gone, there was little hope in the way to Rodum being under the UNSC's control.


	26. Anger over the officer's actions

**Later that day**

The pelicans descended from the sky towards the base, some of them trailing smoke behind them having been damaged in the battle at Sukuki. It had been a hard fight. Out of the about forty five pelicans that had left the base to join in the defence of Sukuki, only twelve had returned, no doubt on what happened to the others. What was devastating about this attack was not only the cost in military and civilian lives, but the fact that now with Sukuki under Covenant control, or destroyed, which was most likely to be It's fate, the way to Rodum was open, this base being pretty much the strongest, and only, barrier left to defend it. There was no way this base would hold out if the Covenant did attack it, which they would do, but when, nobody knew.

What was important now was for Rodum to be warned and It's civilian population to be evacuated, but with many refugees fleeing to the city in hopes it would survive the Covenant and for it was one of the last cities on the planet with transports that could take them back to the safety of Earth and other planets in Humanity's home system.

As the pelicans reached the base, they came to a halt and descended towards the airstrip, their landing gear unfolding themselves. When the landing gear touched the ground, the craft jolted as it was brought to a halt. The able bodied marines jumped down from the craft to the ground and some helped the medics take the wounded out of the craft and to the nearby hospital.

As Moe jumped down from the craft, he brushed a bit of dust of his front, his mysophobia urging him to clean himself soon. He needed to have a shower anyway, but as he went to walk away towards the barracks, a familiar face about forty feet away caught his eye. Looking at the person, he saw it was him. Gofer!

At once, anger filled him. All of what had happened in Sukuki flooded back to him. Gofer had abandoned his men to their fate in a bid to save himself. Also, he had led an ill-fated attack on Covenant positions and it had claimed the life of Michael, one of Moe's friends. Well, he was going to throttle Gofer when he got hold of him.

He walked over towards the officer, who was ordering men off of the pelican he had just jumped down from. As Moe got closer to him, his anger began to boil over. He wanted to shout everything he thought of Gofer and the failure of his attack and that he had abandoned his men to save himself at him. He was furious, absolutely furious!

When Moe reached Gofer, he grabbed hold of him, but Gofer was not scared. In fact, he glared at Moe in realising he had survived. Moe, however, let go of him when he saw dust on his clothing and some of it had gotten onto his hand, but he did not walk away.

"You are an absolute bastard!" he hissed at Gofer, pointing a finger at his face. "You ran off and left us to die!"

"I did what I had to do," Gofer replied. "After all, the UNSC needs experienced officers to lead men against the Covenant, in case you haven't noticed that,"

Moe scoffed. "An experienced officer?" he repeated. "What experienced officer leads a group of men straight into Covenant forces?" he stepped closer to Gofer, his anger and fury burning away like a wildfire inside him. "You made us lose one of our friends because of you!"

"You'll have to get over it, soldier," Gofer told Moe. "You can't this war mourning, or you'll be dead like all those before us. Now get out of my way!"

He pushed Moe out of the way and walked off towards the HQ building. Moe's anger filled eyes followed him. He clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth. He really wanted to go after him and swing a punch at him, but stopped himself and wiped the thought from his mind at realising that if he did that, then he would be court-marshalled, and right now the UNSC and Humanity needed every available man in this war.

Moe sighed in defeat and walked off over to the barracks to give himself a shower and get out of these clothes. Behind him, the medics took the wounded away to the hospital and officers were giving orders over what to do next if the Covenant came here.


	27. A new camcorder

**Five months later**

**Date: March 4****th****, 2552**

**Location: Reach, Niobe Aino system**

Five months on from the Battle for Sukuki city and the UNSC were nowhere any nearer victory since then. In fact, they were more or less moving closer towards defeat.

In January this year, Rodum, the greatest city on Takra, was finally overrun, after three weeks of fighting, and destroyed. Resistance held out on Takra for a further five days until the Covenant finally tracked them down and killed them. This defeat had ended Humanity's rein on a planet that had held out for so long against the Covenant advance across the Niobe Aino system and parked fear that now there was only one planet left in the Niobe Aino system that had yet to be attacked by the Covenant after Tura and It's sister planet, Tura II, had been destroyed by the Covenant just a few days ago in late February. Reach, the main hub for the UNSC in the Niobe Aino system and the technological heartland of Humanity's colonized space empire, was the last planet left in the Niobe Aino system and probably the only thing that was preventing the Covenant from learning the location of Earth and finishing Humanity off for good.

Most soldiers that had survived this long in the Niobe Aino system were taken here and were to be prepared for future actions against the Covenant alongside a special taskforce that had been put together with the best of the UNSC's marines, engineers, pilots, medics, snipers and such, along with several members of the ER (Extra-terrestrial Reconnaissance). Many marines had wondered how this taskforce was going to make a difference, even with these 'special bodysuits' they were to be given to fight the Covenant.

In the barracks of a surface base on reach, Moe sat on his bed, staring at the floor, lost in thought. He had been brought here about six weeks ago after Rodum had fallen, separated from his friends who were sent to different parts of Takra after the fall of Sukuki and was left wondering and worrying about them since.

In the weeks following the fall of Sukuki city, the base Moe had been residing at was attacked, about ten days after Sukuki had fallen, and was quickly destroyed. After that, he had been separated from his friends and sent to Rodum, which had managed to avoid the Covenant juggernaut for some time until it finally struck the city in early January, killing hundreds of civilians, along with many more tens of marines. The Covenant had also suffered heavy losses during the battle for the city but like all city battles in the war in the past, they had won and destroyed Rodum, leaving nothing standing. Moe had managed to escape on January 13th after being injured by shrapnel from a stray UNSC shell, fired from an artillery weapon placed outside the city, and was brought here. He had heard in February that Jerry had been killed in Rodum as well. Isaac and Alan were also still alive but had been taken back the home system after being injured when their pelican had crashed after being severely damaged in an encounter with Covenant banshees on Takra. Many of his other friends had also died over the past few months, either in combat or from wounds sustained in combat.

They had all been devastating deaths to Moe and his other surviving friends, but they had moved on from them. They still did miss them of course, but, like Gofer had said to him on the day of Michael's death in Sukuki, they had to move on and they could not spend the entire war, for however long it may continue, mourning them.

Gofer had not been with them after that day in Sukuki as he, like Moe and his friends, had been separated and sent to other areas of Takra to lead other squads of men. He had mentally said to himself at the time _"Good luck," _to the squads that Gofer was to lead for they would probably end up being left to die by him like he had done to them in Sukuki. In fact, and Moe had partially regretted this, but he had just wished that Gofer would have been killed, or at least kicked out of the UNSC for what he had done, and probably repeated countless times before.

Right now, Moe had heard that the taskforce was being assembled in an underground base nearby where they would begin their training later on today. He knew no one that was being put into this taskforce or what type of training they were to go through or what the UNSC's priority for them was. No one else knew as well, which only made it obvious that this taskforce was a secretive project. Moe scoffed at that thought.

_Not very secretive when everybody knows about it _he thought.

The door to the barracks opened and a marine walked in, carrying a small box in his hands. He saw Moe, who was the only one in the barracks, and walked up to him.

"You corporal Moe?" the marine asked him and he nodded. "Here," the marine handed Moe the box and walked off out of the barracks, the door closing behind him.

Moe stared at the box in confusion. What was in this thing, and who had sent it to him? One of his friends? Maybe, but they would not have had time to and if they had sent him something, it would have arrived long before as he had told them that he was on Reach. His mother maybe?

He opened the box and gasped a little. It was a small device with a tiny square shaped object about the size of his thumbnail attached to the side of it. On the side of the device were the words: _Shinjuku Type 3_ and he smiled. It was another camcorder, and the only person who would have sent him this one was his mother. Smiling, he lifted the device out of the box and toyed with it in his hands. When he turned it over, he noticed a note attached to the bottom of it. He took the note off the camcorder and read it.

_**"**__**Don't break this one!**__**" **_the note read and Moe laughed.

"I'll make sure I won't," he muttered to himself. "And I'll definitely make sure they won't use this one,"


	28. Your not using it

**Twenty five days later**

**Date: March 29****th****, 2552**

**Location: Main barracks, Reach**

For Moe, the stories coming in from the marines and officers training the taskforce were strange, amazing, some hilarious and some annoying. He had heard of taskforce members both winning and losing in fights against holo-Covenant soldiers in the arena underground, to which he was shocked to learn that Eve was here as well, good results from the pelican training the taskforce members went through, one of them being from three days ago when a group of taskforce soldiers on board one pelican took out a seraph fighter and two banshees without suffering bad damage due to the pilot's skills and the actions of one of the taskforce members, and he had even heard of how well or bad they had done in rescuing hostages or securing Covenant leaders intended for capture. He had also heard that in about four days' time they were to be debriefed on the Covenant forces they were to face.

Right now, he was walking back to the barracks he was sleeping in after having helped out in the underground base deliver supplies for the taskforce training in the next few days. The entrance door to the barracks opened automatically and he walked inside. The barracks had a few other groups of marines scattered around it talking. He walked down to his bed and reached underneath it and took out his small box and sat down on his bed, placing the box on his lap. His hands were a little dirty again from lifting the supply boxes so he took out his antibacterial cream and squeezed the tube. A tiny bit of the water-clear cream came out of the tube onto his hands and he rubbed them together, the cream covering palms, fingers and gaps between fingers and knuckles.

The door to the barracks opened again and a voice exclaimed: "Hey Moe!" and he looked up to see two familiar faces coming towards them and he smiled.

"Isaac! Alan!" he exclaimed, putting the box on the bed next to him and getting up to greet them. They came over and shook his hands and pulled him into a friendly embrace. Moe even felt his eyes go a little moist but he stopped himself before they noticed.

"How've you guys been?" he asked as he let go of Alan and stepped a pace back from him.

"Fine," Isaac replied. "We finally got a transport back here. Couldn't get one at first because of the civilians and wounded,"

Moe nodded.

"It's been a bit different here lately," he told them. "Have you heard of this taskforce being put together?" he asked them.

They both shook their heads. "Well, one had been put together, apparently made up of the UNSC's best marines, engineers, pilots and such, and they've got these bodysuits or something that could apparently give us an advantage in this war,"

Isaac laughed a little. "I doubt that this taskforce will make much of a difference," he said.

Alan and Moe nodded in agreement. Alan then noticed the box on Moe's bed and saw the camcorder inside it. Unsurprisingly, his eyes lit up.

"You got a new camcorder," he said.

Moe quickly grabbed it. "Yeah, and you two are not borrowing or using this one," he told them sternly.

"Oh, c'mon!" Isaac pleaded. "We didn't even break it or even plan of borrowing it last time,"

Moe shook his head. Obviously, he was clearly not having any of this pleading. "Nope," he said.

"Look, we won't break it!" Alan said to him. "We'll even only use when your with us,"

Still, Moe shook his head.

"Nope," he repeated and he put the camcorder back into the box and put the box back under his bed. "Now, c'mon. We are going to leave and you two are not leaving my sight," and he led his friends, by gently pushing them out with his hands as he walked behind them, out of the barracks.

He was certainly not going to let them 'borrow' his camcorder this time.


	29. Fall of Reach

**Twelve days later**

**Date: April 10****th****, 2552**

**Camcorder's POV  
>10:15:57:09am<strong>

The screen shifted slightly as it rose up, revealing a small square shaped room with several large crates scattered about. On the wall above the door was a small intercom. There were about four marines in the room, among them Alan and Isaac. They were in the room with Moe, who was obviously holding the camcorder and had it attached to his shoulder, with another marine called Steve, who was an engineer here at the base. They were all down here in the room putting crates away from an ammunition delivery ship that had arrived from Earth. Even though they were underground and not really in battle stance, they had their weapons, three battle rifles and MA5B assault rifles placed on the top of one of the crates near the entrance to the room.

"That the last of them?" Isaac asked, grunting a little, as he put down the last box.

"Yeah, that's all of them," came Moe's voice, which was picked up on the camcorder's sound receiver.

The door to the room opened and sergeant John appeared there.

"Thanks for doing that, guys," he said. "Alright, head off,"

They nodded and the screen shifted slightly from side to side as Moe walked towards the doorway that led into the corridor. The four picked up their weapons and left, John walking out last and closing the door behind him and walked off with the group alongside Moe.

Isaac turned his head and asked John: "So what is this taskforce meant to do in this first mission?" he asked John.

The screen turned to the right slightly to face John, who replied: "Attacking a Covenant assault carrier,"

"Apparently, the Covenant have begun a build-up of their fleet not far from Reach," came Moe's voice.

"Do you think they know about this taskforce?" Steve asked.

"Probably," Alan replied. "But then again, they wouldn't really care. I mean, It's not like this taskforce is gonna be much use against them."

"I wouldn't be so sure on that," John told him. "There's some pretty good soldiers in it, Eve included, so we may have a bit of an advantage,"

Alan was about to reply when…

**BLEEEEEEEEEP!**

Suddenly, the corridor went dark red and an alarm blared out throughout it.

"_ALL UNITS! GET TOPSIDE NOW!" _a voice shouted over the base's intercom.

At once, the scene began to shift wildly from side to side as Moe, Alan, Steve, Isaac and John ran down the corridor, which, very quickly, began to fill up with other soldiers and officers running about. 

**Normal view**

The group came to a turning in the corridor that led left. They ran into the next corridor where they saw the taskforce barracks door open and the members run out, most of them becoming separated in the rush.

As Moe ran down the corridor, he accidentally ran into one of the taskforce members, a man wearing a red bodysuit, and almost knocked him over.

"Sorry, man," he called back, looking over his shoulder, before he reached the end of the corridor, which formed part of an intersection, with John, Alan and Isaac.

John led them left down the next corridor towards a large metallic door which opened as they approached it, revealing a large square shaped room that was about one hundred and ten feet long and about seventy in width. There were two power generators that were fenced off. Scattered around the room where large crates with machine guns, grenades, pistols, you name it, it was there. On the right wall near the far end of the room was another door that led out of the armoury outside. A few other marines were scattered about the armoury.

John ran over to a nearby crate whilst Moe, Alan and Isaac ran over to a small box, placed on top of a large empty rocket launcher crate, which was filled with ammunition. As they began to fumble through it, Moe heard the barracks door open again and he looked over his shoulder to see a group of taskforce soldiers run into the armoury. Among them was the soldier he almost knocked over, a woman with brown hair in a green bodysuit, Eve, who he instantly recognized because of her silver hair, and a few women. 

John waved to them. "You lot over here!"

They ran over to him. Moe heard John speak to them but set about reloading his weapon.

"Well, this is it," Isaac said as he loaded a clip into his battle rifle. "The Covenant has brought the battle to us,"

"Let's hope this taskforce is really up to what I've heard about it," Alan replied as he put a clip into his MA5B assault rifle.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen was facing down towards the crate and Moe's hands as he began reloading ammo clips into his weapon. Behind him, the camcorder's sound receiver picked up John explaining something to the taskforce soldiers. One of them said something and John replied and then a door opened behind them and the sound of battle flooded in for a second before the door closed.

"Are you guys ready?" John's voice asked them.

The screen turned right as Moe turned around to face John, who had an MA5B assault rifle in his hands. Alan and Isaac nodded and the camcorder moved a little as well, indicating Moe must have nodded as well.

"Alright, let's go," John said.

He turned and ran out of the armoury into the battle raging outside. The screen shifted from side to side wildly as Moe, Isaac and Alan ran out after him. As they came outside, the camcorder screen, out of the left corner saw the group of taskforce soldiers disappear amongst a group of cube shaped buildings.

"Pelicans are nearby," John said. "We need to get to them. The _Axiom _is preparing to evacuate soldiers and civilians from Reach so we need to find those pelicans and defend them,"

John looked around for several seconds, trying to remember where the pelicans were parked, before he pointed right over towards a large rectangular building about sixty feet away. A few pieces of metal fell from above and the screen moved upwards to see a Covenant seraph fighter break apart and fly over the armoury. A loud boom followed about two seconds later.

"Alright, this way," John's voice ordered.

The screen moved back down to face the buildings and it once again began shifting from side to side violently as Moe ran with Isaac, Alana and John towards the building. When they reached it, John kicked open a door and the group ran inside. Another explosion erupted in the air behind them, which the camcorder's sound receiver caught very well. That was another craft gone.

**Normal view**

The squad found themselves in a large rectangular shaped room that had several desks along It's walls, a large window on the left wall that gave a view of the outside, a few plants in the far right corner of the room and there was another door on the left wall near the other end of the room. A loud boom shook the room slightly and a small cloud of dust fell from the ceiling. The squad looked up at it, worried as if it would suddenly cave in. Thankfully, it did not.

"Alright, let's go," John said.

He led the squad over towards the door and they ran outside. In front of them was a large clearing with about six parked pelicans. Around it, in a kind of semi-circle, were small cube shaped buildings where several small AA missile launchers were firing on any nearby Covenant aircraft that might try and launch an attack on the landing zone. Running around among the pelicans were marines, medics and pilots. Some of the marines were helping medics and pilots with wounded that were either from the nearby hospital or those that had already been wounded in the attack, whilst others were preparing themselves for the battle against the Covenant ground forces who were, no doubt, already landing around the area.

**Camcorder's POV**

"Sergeant John," a sergeant standing by one of the pelicans shouted, waving to them. "Sergeant John! Over here!"

The scene shifted from side to side wildly as Moe ran over to the sergeant with John, Alan and Isaac. 

"I'm glad you guys are here," the sergeant said to them. "We've got reports of Covenant ground forces converging on this position and we don't have enough spare troops to hold them off-"

BOOM! The scene shot round left and looked up a little, as did everyone else who heard the explosion, to see a pillar of fire rise up into the air from the other side of the rectangular building. By the looks of it, that was either a stray shot from a UNSC long sword fighter, or an aircraft must have been shot out of the sky.

"-Anyway," the sergeant continued and the camcorder screen turned right again to face him. "We need you to help our guys hold off the Covenant whilst we evacuate the wounded."

"Where about are they being taken to, sir?" came Moe's voice.

"The _Axiom_, soldier," the sergeant replied, who then looked back at John. "Do what you can against them," he said to him.

John nodded. "Yes, sir. Good luck,"

The sergeant nodded and ran to the back of the pelican to help out in loading on the wounded. John turned to face his squad and Moe turned slightly so the camcorder screen was facing him.

"Alright, guys," he said. "You heard the sergeant, we need to hold off any Covenant infantry headed this way. Give the soldiers and medics here enough time to evacuate everyone,"

"I hope there's a pelican left for us," came Isaac's voice, which the camcorder's sound receiver picked up.

"Don't worry, there will be," John told him. "It's not like we're offering ourselves as sacrifices to the Covenant. Alright, let's go,"

The scene shifted wildly from side to side once again as Moe, Alan and Isaac followed John around the pelican and across the clearing towards two small rows of stone cube shaped buildings that formed a small alleyway between them. When they reached them, they ran down the alleyway to the end, where a large road was and across it on the other side was a large stone square shaped building where two other marines were standing, their weapons raised, pointing left past the buildings, but what it was exactly they were aiming at was unknown as it was out of sight because of the buildings.

The squad ran to the end of the alleyway, Moe's heavy breaths filling the camcorder's sound receivers as he ran.

"Shit! Covenant forces!" a marine from behind the left side of the end stone cube shaped building of the alleyway.

The squad skidded to a halt and placed themselves against the hard walls of the end stone cube shaped building and raise their weapons. The two marines standing behind the square shaped building across the road did the same, the marine there peeking his head out from behind the building to look down the road.

Gingerly, the camcorder screen moved forward as Moe cautiously stepped forward, with John in front of him also stepping forward but ordering his men behind him to halt as well. It was obvious by the sounds of that shout that the Covenant was nearby.

Suddenly, a marine ran past the alleyway entrance, coming into view of the squad. Koe's camcorder followed him as he ran, getting a clear view of the marine. He was bloodied across the legs of his uniform and there wad dirt across his back and bottom, indicating he must have fallen over whilst running. Then, two light blue blasts flee out left from behind the building and struck the marine in the back. With a yell, he fell forward onto the ground and moved no more.

"Engage those Elites!" the marine across the road shouted as he pointed his battle rifle out from behind the building and fired a burst of ammo down to road. A roar erupted from the left and light blue blast was fired in return, narrowly missing the marine's head as he quickly moved back behind the wall.

**Normal view**

John took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the building. Down the dusty road, about thirty feet away near where two parked warthogs, were three minor Elites, all armed with plasma rifles. They stood far from the warthog vehicles; obviously thinking that their armour's built in shields would protect them. One of them pointed at John and fired a shot, which he dodged by hiding behind the building and he blind fired a burst of ammo from behind it in return. The bullets hit one of the Elites, causing It's shield to light up, but the alien did not make any attempt to dive for cover. In fact, the alien, along with It's two comrades, marched forward, firing away at both the building John was hiding behind and the building across the road from the squad in the alleyway. 

**Camcorder's POV**

"What the Hell do we do?" Isaac's voice asked from behind Moe.

"Where are your grenades?" John replied.

The screen moved down slightly as Moe fumbled about in his belt for grenades. After a few seconds, he pulled out two.

"Use 'em," John ordered.

The screen moved again as Moe walked around John, who moved backwards to give Moe room at the front of the line, to the end of the alleyway. Looking down, which made the screen look down; he pulled the pins out of the grenades and threw out of from behind the alleyway down the road towards the Elites. He then pushed himself against the wall of the building behind him and braced himself for the explosion.

BOOM! The grenades exploded in the dusty road, followed by a chorus of loud roars which quickly fell silent, indicating that the Elites must have been killed by the grenades. Cautiously, Moe stepped forward and looked out, revealing to the camcorder screen three dead bodies lying on the ground where a black scorch mark surrounded them. His attack had been successful.

The camera screen then moved again as Moe stepped to the right to allow John out of the alleyway.

"Good work, Moe," he said. "Alright, let's move out,"

John ran down the road. The camera screen shifted from side to side as Moe, Alan, Isaac and the two marines that had been hiding behind the building across the road from the alleyway followed him. They passed the parked warthogs and turned left at a turning in the road and continued on. Ahead of them, there were only a few more cube shaped buildings along the left side of the road. The right side of the road was bare and looked like a small desert. Far away across the small desert were a set of other buildings. They were a nearby airfield and, looking over at it, giving the camcorder screen a clear view of the buildings, was a dogfight raging above it. A battle must be raging there as well as a few explosions erupted from the ground and a few blasts were visible shooting up into the sky.

"LOOK OUT!" John yelled all of a sudden.

Moe looked ahead of him and saw a purple laser appear. The laser struck Isaac in the chest and he fell to the ground, dead.

"Isaac!" Alan shouted over his friend's sudden death. He went to grab his body, but John grabbed him and pulled him towards a small gap between two of the cube shaped buildings. The camcorder screen shifted from side to side again as Moe ran towards the buildings, diving into a gap, unaware that he had avoided another purple laser by a few inches.

**Normal view **

Moe grunted as he hit the ground. Grunting a little in pain, he stood up and turned around so he was facing the entrance to the alleyway he was in. In the alleyway on the other side of the building to his right were John and Alan. The other two marines were hiding in the next alleyway to their right.

"Are you alright, Moe?" came John's voice.

"Yeah," Moe replied. "Where did that come from?"

"Somewhere up ahead,"

Moe stepped forward and poked his head out from behind the building and looked down the road. About sixty feet away was a small rectangular building with a tiny stone dome on the top of it. He could just about see a figure standing next to the dome.

Suddenly, he moved behind the building's side again as another purple laser fired out from the figure, striking the wall. Breathing a sigh of relief, Moe ran out of the alleyway and, keeping low, ran to the next one where John and Alan were crouched down. He must have surprised them because when he appeared at the end of the alleyway, the two shot round and aimed their weapons at him, their fingers on their weapons' triggers.

"Whoa! Whoa, stop!" Moe said, bringing his arms up as if they would form an invisible shield to protect himself.

The two lowered their weapons. "Sorry, Moe," John said. "Didn't realise it was you,"

"It's alright," Moe replied, lowering his arms and stepping into the alleyway and crouching down in front of them. "What are we going to do about that sniper?" he asked.

"Try and get near him and kill him," John replied. He looked towards the other end of the alleyway. "Question is: how?" he asked himself. "We go out there, we're dead,"

John was right. If anyone went out there, they were dead. Plus, they still had to stop any Covenant ground forces getting to the landing zone and they were probably not in the right area. They had to get around this damn Covenant soldier or by the time they got to where the Covenant ground forces were, it would be too late.

Then, an idea popped into Moe's head.

"Sir," he said, making John look at him. "If some of us can fire on the figure and pin him down, then one of us can run out towards him and fire on him and kill him,"

"Good idea, Moe," John said. "Alright, get ready to run,"

Moe was quite shocked by this. "Um…I didn't say I was going to run out there," he said.

"You came up with the idea so I think It's fair," John replied.

Moe tutted. "Thanks," he said disapprovingly and walked forward towards the end of the alleyway, crouching down when he was about three feet from the end.

"Hey guys," John shouted out to the marines in the next alleyway.

"Yes, sir?" one of them replied.

"Moe's gonna run out and try and take out the sniper that's got us pinned down," John told them. "On the count of three, fire at the roof of the building at the end of the road,"

"Yes, sir," John looked down at Moe.

"Right, get ready," he said and Moe nodded in reply, though he was still annoyed that he was to run out there.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen was facing the road and the small desert on the other side of it. Heavy breaths were coming from behind him. They were Moe's. He was readying himself for the run down the road. Next to him to his left, John and Alan were loading their weapons. Similar noises from the next alleyway to his right, which the camcorder's sound receiver's picked up, indicated that the other two soldiers were doing the same.

"Alright, on three," came John's voice. He stepped towards the end of the alleyway, his leg coming into the left corner of the camcorder screen. "One…two…" Moe took a deep breath and got ready to run. "…THREE!"

John and Alan, who ran in front of Moe, fired a barrage down the road. More bullets flew out next to them, indicating the other two soldiers were doing the same. They did this for about three seconds before they stopped. Then, the camcorder scene shifted wildly from side to side as Moe got up and sprinted out of the alleyway and down the road, passing the alleyway he had dived into a few moments ago. Ahead of him, the camcorder screen just about picked up something moving on the roof of the building at the end of the road.

Next thing, the screen was filled with a quick view of another alleyway before it was filled with the ground. A grunt of pain sounded from behind it. Moe had jumped into the next alleyway at seeing the figure on the roof of the building at the end of the road move. The screen rose up as Moe got to his feet. It then turned left again to face the alleyway entrance, revealing the road and the small desert across the road.

**Normal view**

Moe stepped towards the alleyway entrance. Just as he did, a voice shouted out: "You alright, Moe?" It was John.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he shouted back. "Get ready to fire again,"

"You got it,"

Moe crouched down when he reached the end of the alleyway and waited. A few seconds passed, but they felt like hours as he was going to have to run out into the road again, which meant putting himself in easy range of the sniper. If the sniper decided to fire on him as soon as John and the two marines stopped firing, then he was dead.

No, he was going to have to go out whilst they were firing. It might put him in danger of being hit by friendly fire, but it was either that or risk getting killed by the sniper when everything sounded clear.

Then, the barrage filled the air again. Moe took a deep breath and, keeping low so as to avoid any bullets, ran out of the alleyway and down the road. John went wide-eyed, as did Alan but they decided not to stop tom ask him what he was doing and continued firing at the building.

Moe's heart was beating like mad against his chest. Just a little further and he would be within range of the sniper, but he would also be a clearer target to it. He would just have to hope he got within range of the sniper and fired on it first before it fired on him.

After a few mad seconds, Moe screeched to a halt about twenty feet from the building. At that same moment, John and the marines stopped firing behind him. The sniper on the building's roof ran to the edge, revealing itself to be a Jackal, as were most Covenant snipers, and aimed It's weapon at the squad. However, just as it did, it noticed the marine standing on the ground near the building.

Then, a burst of ammo filled the air, followed by a loud screech as the Jackal sniper fell forward off the building's roof to the ground about fifteen feet below, hitting the ground with a loud thud. Moe smiled at his kill and stood up and ran back to the squad.

"Good work, Moe," John said. "Alright, let's move on,"

"SARGE! LOOK!" one of the marines yelled all of a sudden, pointing out across the desert.

The rest of the squad looked across the desert and went wide-eyed.

Coming straight towards them was a large group of vehicles. They were huge, about twenty eight feet long and shaped like seats and were hovering about a foot off the ground. At the front of the main seat shaped section of the vehicle were two small horn-like sections where the engines were. Near the top of the seat shaped main section of the vehicle was a large circular hole. A few feet down from that was a small hatch door that led into the driver's seat of the vehicle. Wraiths, about nine of them.

Then, smaller vehicles came towards them, hovering alongside the wraiths. They were split into two sections. They were also shaped like seats, though they did not rise up like the wraiths did, but at the front of the vehicle, sticking out of the sides, were two small horn-like sections where the engines were, like on the wraith. At the back of the vehicles was a small dome-like section that looked like the back of a seat. Ghosts, about fifteen of them. 

Suddenly, the wraiths fired a wave of mortar blasts into the air. Five of them zoomed over the buildings behind the squad and exploded on the next row of cube shaped buildings, causing most of them to cave in. One of them fell short. One struck the end building on the row of buildings behind the squad. The last two, however, struck on or near the squad. One blew up on the roof of a building next to them, throwing them to the ground. The other landed on the ground at the back of the squad, killing the two marines and throwing their bodies into the air.

Moe groaned as he lifted his head up. His vision was a little blurry but it kicked back in quickly. He looked over at the small desert and saw the formation of Covenant vehicles coming towards them. They were just fifty feet away.

"John!" Moe exclaimed, getting to his feet. A groan emitted from him as Moe turned him over on his back. He sat up and rubbed his head.

"What happened?" he asked groggily.

"That did," Moe answered, pointing out at the formation of vehicles. John looked and lost his breath.

"Oh, crap!" he whispered, quickly getting to his feet.

Moe ran past him and tapped Alan's face. "Alan, wake up!" he urged.

He did not respond. His eyes remained closed. Moe put two fingers on his pulse and gasped a little. He was dead.

"Moe, c'mon!" John urged him.

At first, Moe did not hear him but a blast from one of the ghosts, which, thankfully, zoomed in front of him by about a foot and struck the side of the building he was next to brought him back into reality. Putting his friend's body back on the ground, Moe got up and ran with John through the alleyway. Behind them, one of the Elites piloting one of the ghosts roared shouted something and the wraiths fired another wave of mortar blasts, which struck the buildings and obliterated them, along with bodies of the fallen lying out on the road.

Moe and John climbed over the ruins of one of the cube shaped buildings, that was part of the row that formed the alleyway they had been in a few moments earlier, and ran down the alleyway towards the clearing. Behind them, they could hear the machines of the Covenant moving on as if they were hunting them.

The two emerged into the clearing, which was almost completely clear of pelicans and men running about. There was only one pelicans left, and it was about to take off. John and Moe ran towards it.

"Hey, wait!" they shouted.

A marine standing in the back of the craft saw them and shouted something to the pilot and the pelican, which had risen a few metres into the air, came to a halt.

"You guys are lucky," the marine standing in the back of the craft's resting area told the two as they reached the craft. "Almost left you here,"

"We only got room for one more," the pilot called from the pelican's cog pit. "We can't take too many,"

John and Moe looked at each other. Who was going to get on board the pelican and get out of here? Either one of them could, but that would mean the other would have to find another way of getting to safety.

Before Moe could even speak, John grabbed him and threw him into the pelican.

"You go on, Moe," he said to him. "I'll find another way out of here," and he ran off out of sight before Moe could protest.

The pelican shook slightly as it hovered into the air and flew forward into the sky, heading away from the base. Moe, standing up, watched as John entered the rectangular shaped building and the Covenant wraiths and ghosts swarm over the clearing and surrounding area, firing on everything in sight.

As Moe sat down, he took the camcorder off his shoulder and went to turn it on, but it would not.

_Oh no, don't be broken! _he thought as he tried pressing the buttons to turn it on but they did nothing.

Then, a small holographic screen appeared above it and the words: **Battery low. Camcorder turning off to conserve power **appeared above it.Moe breathed a sigh of relief. It was just turned off to save battery power, which was good as the last time his other camcorder got broken.

He set the device on his legs and looked around him at those in the pelican's resting area with him. On most of the seats were wounded, some with bandages over their faces and chests, others with burn marks over their bodies. Besides him, there was only three other uninjured marines in the pelican. Just four were all that was defending these wounded and this craft from the Covenant.

Moe turned his head to look out through the pelican's entrance. Before his eyes was a war torn landscape with burning buildings, dogfights raging in the skies and explosions and smaller battles raging on the surface between the buildings on the ground below. Hope faded from him. He could not believe this was happening. This was it. Reach was going to fall.

_"Echo 543, this Delta 075," _a voice said from the cog pit radio and a large shape descended into view of those in the resting area. It was another pelican.

"Roger that, Delta 075. We have wounded on board and heading towards the _Axiom_," the pilot's voice replied from the cog pit.

"_Copy, Echo 543, we have seven taskforce soldiers on board and will be joining you to the Axio-"_

BOOM! The pelican following Moe's eas engulfed in an explosion on the rear. Moe and those who could still see watched in despair and shock as it struggled to stay airborne.

_"This is Echo 543, we have taken a hit to our rear and have sustained damage to our engines!" _the pilot's voice from the other pelican warned. Another smaller explosion erupted on the right wing, but Moe was amazed to see that it was still flying straight. _"Mayday! Mayday! This is Echo 543! We are going down! I repeat, we are going down!" _

The craft sped forward past Moe's pelican. He and the other three that could still stand, along with two other wounded who could still see and sit up, looked through the cog pit door to see the great ship of the _Axiom _not far ahead of them. Then, the pelican they had just seen get hit flew into view about three hundred feet in front of theirs. It was tilting from side to side and was clearly struggling to stay airborne. Then, it zoomed forward and disappeared from view.

"We're nearing the _Axiom_," the pilot said from the cog pit to his passengers. "Hold on, we may have to make an emergency landing,"

The marines standing up or sitting up, laid down on the seats or on the floor and covered their heads, some also covering the heads of their injured comrades who were too weak to do so themselves or had injuries sustained to their arms. Moe silently prayed to himself that the pelican would land safely.

_Please land safely! _he mentally pleaded. _Please don't crash! Please land safely!_

A few seconds later, the scene outside the pelican changed from sun to a slightly darker environment and the sounds of battle were a little fainter now. Then...

CRASH! The pelican rocked as it landed and skidded for several seconds before it finally came to a halt after a loud BANG! Gingerly, those in the resting area raised their heads and looked out through the resting area entrance to see they were in a hanger. They were in one of the _Axiom's _hangers.

The pilot emerged from the cog pit, a small cut on his fore head from where he had been launched forward onto the controls.

"Everyone alright?" he asked.

Those that could nodded. Three sergeants appeared at the resting area entrance.

"Good, everyone's alive," one of them said. "Alright, let's start unloading these wounded."

Moe and those who could walk, including the pilot, got up and began to help the sergeants take the wounded out of the pelican.

**Five minutes later**

During the last five minutes, another pelican had entered the hanger, though this one had managed to land normally, and was also packed with wounded. Moe instantly went to help out those once the wounded from his pelican were off to the ship's medical centre.

"Look!" one of the marines said all of a sudden, pointing put of the hanger.

Everyone turned to look and saw another pelican heading towards the ship, though this one heading more to the right, for another hanger. However, behind it was what they were really looking at. It was a large purple cylinder that seemed to stretch up into the sky. It was a Covenant glassing laser, and it was heading straight for the ship.

"Oh crap!" one of the sergeants gasped. "We need to go, now!"

Then an alarm sounded through the hanger and, as Moe away from looking out the hanger entrance as the pelican had disappeared from sight, a voice said over It's intercom: _"All personal in the hangers, strap yourselves in immediately. We are about to take off!"_

Moe ran towards the back of the hanger where a control room was. The sergeants and other walking marines joined them, having helped the medics take away the last of the wounded. They ran into the control room where a few workers were already strapped into their seats. A few deployable hover chairs, used for anyone extra that was to come in, were scattered around the room.

"Strap yourselves in, quick!" one of them ordered.

They did so. Moe took one of the hover chairs and strapped himself in and looked out through the control room window at the hanger entrance. Through it he could see the Covenant forces still fighting with the UNSC even though the Covenant was beginning to glass the planet. The purple laser that they had seen was gone, but more were just visible in the distance.

Then, a loud whirring sound filled the air and the hanger doors, two large rectangular sections, each one being half the size of the hanger entrance, appeared, one out of the floor and one of the ceiling. They moved towards each other, gradually shrinking the view of Reach until they finally came together with a small boom, sealing those in the hanger off from the outside world old Reach. Moe turned his head and looked back across the control room where everyone else was waiting for the ship to take off. They were all nervous, not because none of them had been in Space before, but because they were afraid they would not escape, that they would all die here.

Then, the ship shook violently and those in the control room felt the ship ascend. Moe closed his eyes and tried to shut out the violent shaking that was making him feel sick. He just wanted it to end, but if that happened then he and everyone on board this ship was dead. Come on! End already! Stop shaking!

Then, after several seconds, the shaking stopped. Moe slowly opened his eyes and gazed around him as if he was shocked to see that the hanger and themselves were all still in one piece. They all unstrapped themselves, the ship's artificial gravity already having been activated, and walked out of the control room. Moe walked over to the pelican he had entered the ship on and picked his camcorder. He had left it there. He was going to have to be careful, otherwise he would lose it, or worse, break it.

Then, another loud whirring sound filled the air. Everyone in the hanger or control room looked towards the hanger doors to see them open, only they were not being sucked out into the vacuum of space for there was a window there, having been built into the doors to give a clear view of space when the ship left a planet.

What they saw shocked them.

Far below was the planet of Reach. In space around it were the ruins of a space orbital defence platform and hundreds of Covenant ships, both assault carriers and, mostly these types, CCS battle cruisers. Every few seconds, one or a few of them would fire a purple laser down onto the planet, creating untold death and destruction to the surface below.

Moe walked to the edge of the hanger window and turned on his camcorder, regardless of the low battery it had left, and turned it so it was facing the scene unfolding in front of him. He was breathless with shock, but even though he could not say it, he knew that this was it. Hope seemed to fade from him.

_This is it _he thought. _We're defeated. It's over_

"I've just got word from the bridge," one of the workers said, making everyone turn to face him. "Everyone has to leave the hangers,"

Obeying the orders they had been given, everyone in the hanger began walking towards the door, some talking amongst themselves over what they had just seen, others looking back as they walked, not taking their eyes off it. Moe sighed and turned off his camcorder and walked towards the door. When he reached it, he looked back once more and the last glint of hope and happiness that seemed to reside in them disappeared as if it were taken from him forever, and, heaving a heavy sigh, he walked out of the hanger. 

__


	30. Escape from the Axiom

**The next day**

The _Axiom_ had travelled far in the past twenty four hours since the fall of Reach. News of the defeat had spread like wildfire amongst the crew and the Human population in the home system of Humanity. Many already believed that total defeat was only a number of weeks away, months if Humanity was lucky.

On board the great ship, the only talk now was: where were they to go and what were to do? They had heard that captain McCrea intended to head away from Earth rather than towards it because they were being chased by Covenant ships that had attacked Reach. He had hoped that they would try and lead the entire Covenant advance away from the home system, which the Covenant knew Humanity colonized but did not know if Earth was there, and to somewhere far away, hoping to give Humanity at least a few months to prepare for the Covenant that might, and most likely would, find the hidden location of Earth.

However, there was one thing that seemed to lift the spirits of the men and women on board of the _Axiom_. That thing was Eve. She had managed to be rescued from Reach, having been on the last pelican that entered the ship before it took off from Reach, but had been devastated to know that the rest of the taskforce and the ER, both from where she had many friends, had been wiped out completely on Reach. This had also devastated the remaining Human population in the home system and on board the _Axiom _for now they had to place all their hopes on Eve's shoulders. Whether she knew it or not, she was Humanity's last hope now. If she was killed, then Humanity may as well wave the white flag and surrender to the Covenant.

In one of the barracks of the ship, Moe laid down on one of the beds, watching footage of the battle on Reach. He had all of it from just moments before the attack began to when he had filmed the last glimpse he had of Reach. He sighed and laid his head on the bed's pillow, looking up at the ceiling. He could not believe it. In the past few months he had lost all of his friends he had hung around with and known the most. He felt terrible, guilty even as if he was somehow responsible for their deaths and that he had survived, but they had not. It was not easy to forget.

Sighing again, he sat up and looked around the barracks. There were only four other marines in the barracks with him. One was asleep in a single bed along the left wall and two more were on bunk beds along the right wall talking to the fourth marine, who was sitting on a single bed next to the bunk bed. They were only talking about what was to happen now. What were they to do now that Reach was gone and that they were on the run from the Covenant?

_We can only hope to survive long enough _Moe thought as he laid back down again and resumed looking up at the ceiling.

His thoughts went to his mother. She had heard he was on Reach and was probably worried sick about him now, thinking that he had been killed by the Covenant in the attack. He only wished if he could somehow contact her and reassure her that he was safe and still alive, but for how much longer? How long would it be until his turn came?

That would answer itself in time. He hoped it would be a long time before his turn was to come.

Suddenly, the barracks door opened and sergeant John appeared in the doorway.

"You guys, get your weapons, now!" he ordered.

"What's going on, sir?" Moe asked.

"We've got reports of Covenant heading towards the ship in boarding craft," he replied. "Well, c'mon, get ready!"

He ran right down the corridor. The marines, including the one who been jumped out of his sleep by the sudden arrival of the sergeant, got up and ran out of the barracks, Moe quickly running back in to grab his camcorder which he had forgotten, and right down the corridor towards a door on the left wall. Above it on the wall were the words **Armoury**. The door opened as they approached it and they ran inside. The armoury was a large rectangular shaped room with weapons placed in racks. There were battle rifles, sniper, MA5B and MA5C assault rifles, M6C pistols, grenades. It was all there. There were about nine other marines and workers scattered about the armoury.

The group split up and ran over to different part of the armoury to grab their weapons. Moe ran over to a weapon rack and picked up a battle rifle and a few clips of ammo next to it and placed them in his pocket. He then placed his camcorder on his shoulder but just as he went to turn it one, the armoury door opened again and another sergeant appeared in the doorway.

"Troops, captain's McCrea's given orders to evacuate the ship," he said. "Get out of here as quickly as you can,"

Moe was shocked at the sergeant's words. What! They were leaving the _Axiom_? Th-they could not! Where would they go? And what would they do if the Covenant pursued them? Ah, he would have to find that out later! Right now, he had get off this ship like the sergeant had said before the Covenant overwhelmed it.

He ran out of the armoury and ran on down the corridor in the direction he had been going before he entered the armoury. When he reached the end, where the corridor joined onto a longer one that led both left and right, he ran left down the next corridor to the end where a large door was. It opened as he approached it, revealing another long corridor that was wider than the last and had an entrance on the wall opposite him leading into the ship's cafeteria. At the right end was a closed half-hexagon shaped door. More marines and workers were running in both directions, some hoping to get to defensive positions, others to get to the escape pods or ships as quickly as they could.

Moe ran left down the corridor, half raising his battle rifle as he did. As he reached the end, the ship shook slightly; this almost made him fall over if he had not grabbed hold of a small pillar on the wall that was next to where a half-hexagon door would close. A few other men and workers fell over.

"What the Hell?" one of them exclaimed as he got up, raising his pistol. "Did something just hit us?"

"I think so," another replied. "Whatever it is, It's not good,"

He was right. If something was to make the ship shake like that in the midst of a Covenant threat, then it had to be Covenant boarding craft.

Moe ran right down the next corridor, which wide and led to a small square shaped stop with another turning at the end. About half-way down the corridor he was in, on the right wall, was a small door that led to an escape pod.

BOOM! The door suddenly exploded, throwing Moe to the floor and large pieces of the object through the air up and down the corridor and turning the wall either side of the door charcoal black from the blast. As he lifted his head, groaning and placing a hand on the side of his head from where it had struck the floor, loud footfalls filled the air, followed by light footfalls. Then, a large figure appeared in the doorway. It was an Elite wielding a plasma rifle. Behind it was a group of smaller aliens. Grunts, most of who were wielding plasma pistols but one was wielding a needler.

The Elite turned It's head to look up and down the corridor and saw the marine lying on the floor. At once, it growled and raised It's plasma rifle and placed It's finger on the trigger of It's weapon.

Moe reacted quickly. He grabbed his battle rifle, which he had dropped when the explosion had thrown him to the floor and fired a burst of ammo at the Elite. The bullets broke through the alien's shield and embedded themselves in the chest of the creature. The Elite roared loudly as it was thrown backwards onto the floor before it moved no more.

"AAAHHHH!" one of the Grunts, armed with a needler, screamed. "They got leader! Run for your lives!"

The Grunts immediately ran out of the doorway and scattered themselves up and down the corridor. Moe ignored them and ran down the corridor to the end. As he turned left into the next corridor, which was the same as the last one, only it did not have an entry door to an escape pod, he heard a few bursts of gunfire explode behind him, followed by several yells. Well, that was the Grunts dead, but he would be as well if he did not get off the ship soon.

Running to the end corridor and turning left, he found himself in the midst of a battle. In front of him were several barricades with marines hiding behind them. Further down the corridor, hiding behind some of the pillars that ran along the walls and behind turnings that led into the next corridor, were several Covenant Elites, three minors and one major. Moe dived forward behind the barricade, narrowly missing a few blasts as they flew over him and hit the wall behind him.

"What the Hell's going on here?" he asked a marines sitting next to him.

"We were guarding this corridor until we felt the ship shake," the marine replied, quickly rising up and firing a burst of ammo down the corridor and ducking low again to avoid another light blue blast from the Elites. "Then we heard an explosion from where you've come from and we went to go but these guys showed up. What happened back there anyway, man?"

"A Covenant boarding craft with an Elite and a few Grunts," Moe replied as he blind fired a burst of ammo out from behind the barricade down the corridor.

"What, you mean there's more Covenant heading this way?"

"No, I killed the Elite and the Grunts panicked and as I was running up here, some others took care of the rest,"

"Kill them with your grenades!" one of the Elites shouted.

The squad went wide-eyed and looked up from behind the barricade to see the four Elites all wielding a small blue object with orange thunderbolts. Plasma grenades!

Reacting quickly, the squad raised their weapons and fired a barrage down the corrirodr at the Elites. Just as they did, one of them lit It's plasma grenade, but before he could throw it, the bullets from the squad broke through his armour's shield and embedded themselves in It's chest, throwing the Elite backwards onto the floor, dead. The plasma grenade fell to the floor beside the dead body of the Elite.

"GET AWAY FROM IT!" the major Elite yelled.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A series of explosions filled the air, creating a blinding light blue flash that filled the corridor, making the squad cover their eyes. After a few seconds, they moved their arms from over their eyes to see all the Elites lying dead on the floor.

"That was close," one of the marines said, making the rest of the squad nodded in agreement.

"We better move on before more Covenant arrive," Moe suggested.

"Good idea," the marine he had been talking to replied.

The squad climbed over the barricades and ran down the corridor to the end and turned right into the next one. This corridor was longer than the last one and had three open doorways along the left walls, all of them leading to the escape pods. This was it. They could get off the ship now.

As the squad ran into the corridors, another group of marines appeared out of the other end. At the head was a young looking marine pilot.

"Hey guys," one of the marines called, waving his arm at them. "C'mon, get on board,"

The squad ran to the end of the corridor to the doorway at the end, where they joined the other squad as they crammed themselves into the escape pod and sat down on the seats along the walls of the escape pod. As Moe sat down on one of the seats next to the door, he looked back into the corridor, wondering if he would see the ship again.

"Everyone ready?" came the pilot's voice.

"Yeah!" the men in the back of the escape pod chanted.

"Alright, hang on," the pilot warned and the men in the craft braced themselves for the launch of the ship.

A second later, the craft shook slightly as it rocketed itself from the _Axiom_. As the craft flew away from the ship, Moe looked out and saw several fires raging on the craft. A few blue lasers shot past the pod and hit the sides of the ship.

_I hope everyone gets off that thing _he thought hopefully.

"Whoa! Look below us!" the pilot exclaimed all of a sudden.

Moe and the marine across from him looked through the glass doorway and saw something that made their eyes grow wide.

It was a ring, the largest ring they had ever seen. It had an Earth-like surface going around the whole of the inside of the ring and a machine-like surface on the outside with several visible lights scattered among It's silver surface.

"What the Hell is that?" Moe asked.

"I don't know," the pilot replied. "But I'm heading for it,"

"What!" the men in the pod exclaimed as the pilot descended the craft towards the ring.

"What do you mean you're heading for it?" one of the marines asked furiously "We don't know what's on that…thing!"

"Well do you stay up here with the Covenant?" the pilot asked the marine, who promptly shut his mouth. "Exactly, so shut up!"

The pilot continued descending the craft towards the ring. Moe looked out through the glass and saw another few tiny objects rocket away from the _Axiom_, though one of them flew into the path of a blue laser and was blown apart. He took his eyes away from the glass. That was another load of marines dead.

"Alright, heads up everyone," the pilot warned the men. "We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five."

As soon as the pilot finished speaking, the craft began to shake. Slightly at first, then more violently as it got closer to the ring. Moe closed his eyes and silently prayed, which was pretty much what all the others were doing, as the pod neared the strange object.

They were heading closer to the unknown. Whether this ring was Covenant or not, they did not know, but they would have to wait and see when they landed on it.


	31. The ring

**Ten minutes later**

**Date: April 11****th****, 2552**

**Camcorder's POV**

**13:41:01:15pm**

The camcorder screen shook wildly from side to side. Heavy breathing filled It's sound receiver and what was in the screen was a few marines running down a small pathway that was surrounded by rock. The pathway went through a large cliff that was part of a large area of this inside section of the ring. This section of the ring, however, was surprisingly much like the normal landscape on Earth. It resembled that of an area you would find in an Alaskan mountain range, only with large drops that seemed to lead to ground thousands of feet below.

The marines ran around a left turning in the path that cut through the cliff. Moe, who, as usual, had the camcorder attached to his shoulder also turned right, revealing to the camcorder screen that the marines had stopped to catch their breath for the moment. There were four other marines with him. Two of them were leaning against the side of the cliff whilst the other two were sitting down on the ground with their backs against the cliff wall. Moe joined the two on the ground and sat down next to them, breathing heavily.

They had been running almost non-stop for the past ten minutes. Not very long, but with a weapon, equipment and the fact that they had to pull themselves out of their crashed drop ship and then run almost instantly afterwards as a Covenant drop ship came looking for them, it was enough to make anyone tired.

Only five of the marines had survived the crash. The pilot and most of the remaining marines had been killed instantly when it had slammed into the ground at a terrifyingly fast speed. Moe and the four he was with that had survived had then fled when they heard a Covenant drop ship approaching. However, they were taken by surprise when more Covenant forces scattered around this large region saw them and gave chase, which was only made worse when the Covenant drop ship saw It's troops chasing the Humans and decided to join in. Luckily, for the moment, they had lost the drop ship when they went into a cave and had managed to kill an Elite that had been leading the Covenant squad that had first spotted them, causing the Grunts to flee. For now, they had lost them but they were not taking their chances out in the open and so they had decided to flee into this small pathway in the cliff to catch their breath and, hopefully, gain contact with any other groups of survivors.

**Normal view**

(Breath)…"H-how a-(breath)-are…we gonna-(breath)…find…other groups?" one of the marines sitting on the ground asked.

"Du-(breath)-dunno," the marine next to him replied.

One of the marines standing up took a deep breath. "We'll have to …hope another drop ship…comes over,"

"Yeah…but what are the…odds?" Moe asked. "The rest…of the drop ships are probably…gone with the _Axiom_,"

"Don't say that!" one of the marines sitting down on the ground snapped at him, having at least gained his breath. "There's got to be another drop ship around here somewhere,"

"Question is: where?" one of the marines that was standing up asked.

"Well, I don't know, do I!" the marine sitting down replied angrily. "Otherwise we wouldn't be sitting here!"

"Alright, no need to get pissed off!"

"Well It's quite easy to know that we're in dead lumber and probably miles from any help and probably even the only ones who made it off the ship!"

"Alright, cut it out!" Moe barked, silencing the two and getting up. "We're not going to get anywhere arguing!"

"Well, I've not seen you do anything to get us out of this mess!" the marine standing up replied angrily.

"Don't try and pin this on me!" Moe pointed his finger at him and stepped towards him. "It's not like it was my idea of leaving the _Axiom_!"

"I hear them! Find them!" a deep voice shouted out.

The squad darted their eyes towards the way they had come into the path, their emotions quickly turning from anger to fear. Then, light and heavy footfalls filled the air. They were coming!

"Run!" one of the marines standing up shouted.

The squad ran further on down the path. Behind them, they heard the deep voice shout out again. They knew they were here for sure and were now going to chase them down and kill them. The squad ran around a left turning and then around a right turning. At one point, Moe, who was at the back of the group, looked over his shoulder to see a light blue blast strike the left rock wall of the last turning. They were getting closer.

Suddenly, the group emerged from the pathway into a large clearing that was in a large bowl-like shape in the mountains. In the middle of the clearing was a large structure with a rectangular main section about forty feet above the ground with four large pillars descending down from the corners of the rectangular main section to the ground. On the top of the rectangular main section was a large cube shaped section with a small silo tower, about thirty feet tall, sticking out of the top of that. On the bottom of the rectangular main section was a large circular hole, probably an anti-gravity hole. 

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen stared up at the large structure. Moe whispered "My God!" and his voice was picked up by his camcorder's sound receivers.

"What the Hell is that?" one of the marines asked. "Besides it being a building," he added.

"No idea," another replied. "I've never seen anything like that before,"

"It's probably Covenant," another marine said, nervously taking a step back from the structure.

"Where are they?"

The screen shot round to face the pathway entrance again. The Covenant was still coming after them! They had to something! They had to either stay and fight the Covenant or flee into the structure and hope to hold them off. Either way, they would be fighting the Covenant but only one of these two options would give them a better chance of survival.

"What do we do?" came a marine's voice, which the camcorder's sound receiver picked up.

"We go into the structure," came another marine's voice and the screen shot round left to face him.

"What! We don't know what's in that place!" came Moe's voice. "There could be more Covenant in there!"

"Do you want to stay out here then?" the marine replied. "You can hold off the Covenant if you want to?"

"THERE THEY ARE! KILL THEM!" the deep voice yelled from behind and the screen shot round to see a minor Elite standing in the entrance to the pathway. Then, three smaller figures appeared, Grunts, and bringing up the rear were two more creatures armed with shields. Jackals.

"RUN!" Moe's voice yelled.

The screen shot round and shook wildly from side to side as Moe ran, with the squad in front of him, towards the structure. A few light blue and light green blasts flew past them and struck the side of the structure. One of the marines half-turned and fired a burst of ammo from his battle rifle at the Covenant squad. A yell erupted behind the, indicating a Grunt had been killed, but Moe did not look back. He just ran on, determined to get to the structure and get inside.

**Normal view**

The squad ran on underneath the structure. The Covenant squad chased after them, determined to catch them and kill them. Moe and his squad screeched to a halt under the structure and looked around desperately for a way inside.

"Can any of you see a way in?" one of them asked.

"No," the others replied in unison.

"HAHA! You are trapped!" the Elite laughed from outside. The squad turned to look at the Covenant squad and saw them halt and raise their weapons. "Prepare to die," the Elite said.

The squad raised their weapon and got ready to fire but with the Jackals' shields, there was little chance of them all surviving. The two sides prepared to fire.

Suddenly, just as the Covenant fired, the squad were lifted off their feet up towards the structure as if they had been picked up by a pair of invisible hands. Above them, the large circular hole opened up and they went from a bright outside in a dark room that was almost completely pitch black, the only light coming from the circular hole below them. For a moment, they hovered there. Then, the hole closed and they fell down onto it. Just in time as the Elite had fired a few rounds and they hit the other side of the circular door as it closed.

The squad aimed their weapons around in the darkness for a few seconds.

"Guys, are you okay?" Moe shouted out.

"Yeah,"

"Yep,"

"Uh huh,"

"Yes,"

Then, the entire room seemed to light up from nowhere. As soon as it did, the squad began aiming their weapons towards the walls, which was where the light seemed to be coming from. After about ten seconds, the room was lit up bright enough for them to see.

The room was large and square shaped with metallic floor, part of it being the circular door, walls and ceiling, all having strange symbols and markings engraved in them, ones that the squad had never seen before. On the wall ahead of them was an open doorway that led into a metal corridor, which seemed to be lit up by the light that seemed to emanate from the walls. Where that corridor led to was unknown and the squad were nervous to go and see where it led to. However, they quickly changed their minds when they heard a shout from below, obviously from outside, say: "Get underneath it! See if it will activate!" and ran down the corridor, Moe, who was at the back, looking over his shoulder every few metres to see if the hole in the room opened up or not.

When the squad reached the end of the corridor, they reached a turning that led right into another corridor. They ran down this corridor and turned left at the end into another one. However, at the end of this one was another doorway that led into a large room. The squad ran down the corridor to the end.

The large room, which was also lit up by the light that seemed emanate from the walls, was also square shaped, just a little larger than the entrance room, with a kind of raised platform at the end and a raised pathway that led up to it. On the end of the platform furthest from the squad was a large control panel with something hovering above it, though it was too far away for the squad to see exactly what it was. Along the walls, floor and ceiling were more of the strange symbols engraved into them. What were they?

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen moved from left to right as Moe moved his shoulder, trying to get everything in the room on tape. One of the marines walked forward, coming into view of the camcorder screen.

"What the Hell is this place?" he asked.

"No idea," came the voice of another marine from off screen. "I have a bad feeling about this,"

"Yeah," came Moe's voice. "I don't like this. I think we should go,"

"Where?" the marine standing in front of him asked, looking over his shoulder at him. "We can't go out the way we came because of those Covenant,"

"Well, we'll just have to try and find another way out," Moe replied.

"How?"

"Well there's got to be something here that can give us a way out," the camcorder screen then moved from side to side as Moe walked towards the platform. "What about that thing hovering above the platform? That could be a way out,"

"I don't know about that, Moe," came a marine's voice from behind, which the camcorder's sound receiver picked up. "That thing could be dangerous,"

"Well, we might as well try," Moe replied.

The screen rose as Moe walked up the raised platform to the platform at the top. When he reached it, he walked towards the platform, the screen catching many holographic slots and switches moving abut from side to side and opening and closing at will.

"What the Hell do I do now?" came Moe's voice in a confused whisper.

Footfalls behind him, which the camcorder's screen receiver picked up, indicated the rest of the squad had joined him.

"Okay, this is confusing," one of them said.

"Yeah, it is," Moe replied. "Wonder what button to press?" he asked himself.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" one of the marines asked him. 

"Well, we can't just stay here. Plus, one of these things must have a way of leading us out of here," 

Out of the corner of the camcorder screen came Moe's hand. It hovered questionably above the control panel as if it itself was trying to figure out which one to press before Moe finally picked a holographic button and pressed down on it with his finger.

_VRRROOOOOOMMM!_

**Normal view**

The squad jumped and looked up ahead of them to see the entire front wall of the room moving! It was actually moving! Then, a small split appeared down the middle of it and grew larger. Daylight flooded in from it and, after about ten seconds, the squad was revealed with the outside landscape of the bowl the structure was in. So the front wall was a door, or at least something covering a large window.

"What is this place?" one of the marines asked, half-raising his battle rifle.

"Right, well we've got a large window so that could give us a way out if we fire on it," one of the marines suggested.

The rest of the squad nodded and fired a barrage at the window. However, none of their bullets broke through the window. Not even a small crack was made. It was either bullet-proof or there was something else protecting it.

One of the marines swore loudly as he lowered his battle rifle.

"Great!" he said in an annoyed tone. "Now how the Hell are we supposed to get out of here?"

"Looks like whoever built this place didn't want any of it to be smashed apart," Moe commented, looking at the large window.

Suddenly, their radios crackled to life.

"_This is Echo 419. Anybody read me, over?" _

Upon hearing this, Moe grabbed his radio and held it up near his lips.

"We read you Echo 419," he said. "Thank God you found us,"

_"Roger that. I'm near a large bowl with a structure that had some kind of silo sticking out of the top of it. Where are you guys?"_

"We're inside it. The Covenant has got the entrance blocked so we can't get out the way we got in. We're trying to find another way out,"

_"Roger that. I'll fly around and try and draw their attention long enough for you guys to find a way out,"_

"Roger, thanks Echo 419,"

_"Good luck, Foehammer out,"_

Then, a large shape appeared over the top of one of the sides of the bowl. The squad looked through the window to see it was a pelican; no doubt it was Echo 419. The pelican banked left and disappeared from sight behind the side of the structure. Hopefully, she would draw the Covenant squad to her and give the squad long enough to find a way out of the structure.

As Moe placed his radio back onto his chest, he saw a small light blue button. His curiosity, and belief that it was somehow different in It's purpose than the others, led him to press it.

Suddenly, the platform jolted violently, throwing the squad to It's floor, and hovered up into the air towards the ceiling.

"What did you do?" one of the marines shouted at him.

"I pressed a light blue button on the control panel. I thought it would open a way out of here!" Moe replied.

"Well, it obviously hasn't, has I-"

"Guys, look!" another of the marines exclaimed, pointing up at the ceiling and cutting the other marine talking to Moe mid-sentence.

The squad looked up towards the ceiling and saw it opening as well. A small circular hole, just wide enough for the platform to fit into, opened up as two sections of the ceiling broke in two and moved away from each other into the ceiling, just like what had happened to the front wall a few moments earlier. Daylight flooded in through the hole, only for it to be quickly filled up when the platform hovered into place and came to a halt. They were back outside.

The squad got up from the platform and walked off it onto the ceiling. They were right next to the large silo. Then, the platform hovered back down into the room and the two sections of the ceiling_  
><em>moved back out from within the metal that was the roof and joined together, becoming one again.

"Well, at least we're back outside," one of the marines said.

"Yeah, but now we just have to get down," Moe replied, walking to the edge of the roof and peering down over the edge to the ground, which was about seventy feet below. Way too high for them to jump and there was nothing they had to climb down to the ground.

"We'll just have to try and contact Echo 419 and get her to pick us up," one of the marines said, reaching for his radio.

_"No need, I see you guys already. I'm coming in now," _

A large shape flew out from behind the silo and hovered towards the edge of the roof. Echo 419. They were safe. The squad felt the happiness at realising they were safe and going to get away from the Covenant flow through them like water on rock. Now they could get out of here and get to safety.

The pelican hovered down to the edge of the roof and turned so the resting area was facing the squad. They climbed on board and the pelican flew away from the structure into the air. Just in time as well as the platform appeared in the roof again, only this time the Covenant squad was on it. The Elite roared and pointed up at the pelican and they fired on it. The blasts struck the metallic side of the craft, one even flew into the resting area and almost struck Moe in the head if he had not ducked, but the pelican was soon out of range.

The marines slumped down into the seats, each breathing a sigh of relief. The cog pit door opened and a woman with jet black hair poked her head out.

"You fella's alright?" she asked.

They all nodded. "Yeah, thanks, Foehammer," one of the marines replied. "We'd be dead if it weren't for you,"

"It's alright," she replied. "I'll drop you guys at a small camp a few other survivors have set up and then I've got to fly out here again. I've received more transmissions from another group of survivors,"

The marines looked at each other, wide-eyed but happy. So they were not the only ones who made it off the _Axiom_. There were others as well. Oh, thank God. At least now they could survive longer with others than they would on their own.

However, they were hoping one member did get off. Her.

"I hope got off alright," Moe said, and the others nodded in agreement. "If she didn't, then we're all dead." 


	32. Return at Alpha Base

**The next day**

**Location: Alpha Base, unknown mountain region, Halo**

**Date: April 12****th****, 2552**

**Time: 05:31am (Earth time)**

Alpha Base. A large UNSC complex set up in a small mountain region on the ring world of Halo. The base had a small clearing from where there were three large AA missile launchers set up to shoot down any Covenant aircraft. Around this were nine large tents and several deployable base buildings, which were small cube shaped buildings. One was a map building, another a communications and radar building and the last was an armoury with a small place for warthogs and scorpion tanks to be placed for use later on.

At the moment, most marines and workers, that had escaped the _Axiom _and come here, were watching the skies for any sign of a large ship. It was already beginning to get light like it would do in the summer on Earth and many of these marines and workers had been searching the skies for more than an hour.

The reason for all this was that they had heard that captain McCrea had been captured by the Covenant yesterday after the ship had crash landed on the ring a few hundred miles away in some large desert-like landscape. A few other survivors had also been captured and were taken to a Covenant CCS battle cruiser called the _Truth and Reconciliation_. After hearing this, most had believed he was dead, or likely to be dead soon.

That was until the last pelican arrived at Alpha Base, carrying more survivors and the one person who the people of the _Axiom _saw hope in. Eve.

She had organised a rescue mission and, last night, had gone out to rescue captain McCrea from the Covenant ship. The last they had heard was from Echo 419, who had managed to evade a group of Covenant air patrols, and she had told the base that Eve and sergeant John had managed to rescue captain McCrea and the other survivors. After that, they had heard nothing more.

Moe was among those searching the sky, standing in the middle of the clearing, scanning the sky for anything that looked promising. It was hard though for anyone to locate another craft unless it was within firing range of the base. Alpha base had been set up in a valley between three small mountains with only two ways of getting out of this area, which were either by air or through the valley that continued on to the right of base through two larger mountains. Even though it was hidden, if the Covenant found the base then it was a strategically vulnerable position for all they would have to do is place troops and vehicles like wraiths on the mountains sides and fire down on the base and it was finished.

As Moe searched the sky, his eyes suddenly rested on something flying towards the base from over the mountains. Looking at it, he saw it was not a pelican. It-it looked more…more like a…Covenant drop ship!

"Covenant drop ship!" he shouted out, pointing at the craft as it approached.

Instantly, the other marines and workers ran to get their weapons or man the AA missile launchers, ready to shoot down the enemy craft as it came towards them. Moe took out his battle rifle and aimed it up at the Covenant drop ship. Although his weapon would do little, he was ready to defend the base against the ship and whatever Covenant might come out of it.

Suddenly, his radio crackled to life.

_"This is captain McCrea to Alpha Base! Do not fire! We are friendly! I repeat, do not fire! We are friendly!" _came a voice from his radio and everyone else's around the base.

"Is this a trick?" a marine manning one of the turrets asked.

"I don't think so," a nearby sergeant replied. "But keep your weapons on that thing. Anything small or big and ugly comes out of it, blast it," he ordered.

The soldiers nodded and aimed their weapons at the craft as it hovered down into the clearing. Moe ran backwards away from it, stopping next to one of the turrets, and knelt down and aimed his weapon at the drop ship, ready to fire on it.

Then, with a mechanical whir, the sides doors on both of the L shaped sections of the craft opened up and a group of marines jumped down from the craft. The marines that surrounded the craft, who had almost opened fire as soon as the doors opened, breathed a sigh of relief and lowered their weapons.

Then, a chorus of cheers filled the air as a tall heavily built man in a white UNSC's officer's uniform got off the craft. It was captain McCrea. Behind him was a tall young woman with silver hair, blue eyes and was dressed in a white bodysuit. It was Eve. Behind her, and being the last one off the craft, was sergeant John.

The sergeant that had given out the orders to the soldiers here ran forward to greet the captain.

"Captain McCrea!" he exclaimed. "We're glad you're alive. We thought the Covenant had killed you,"

McCrea shook his head. "No. They would have done if it had not been for Eve, sergeant John and the marines here,"

The sergeant who had greeted them nodded. "Yes, sir. Now, we need you information on what to do next and on this ring world we're on,"

McCrea nodded and walked with the sergeant towards the map building. Eve and sergeant John followed him. Moe watched them go and a smile crept upon his face. With captain McCrea saved, there was a chance they could hold out against the Covenant and prove to be an effective resistance.

For now, the _Axiom's _crew, though battered and bruised and no longer within the safety of their ship, was going to fight on against the Covenant, and now it would take place across this ring world.


	33. The Flood

**The next day**

**Date: April 13****th**

**Location: Unknown jungle region, Halo**

**Time: 20:32pm (Earth time)**

Like in all the jungles, the climate is a mixture of humidity and rain. Here on Halo, both were usually mixed together, which was also common in the jungles of Earth, but were sometimes on their own in their weather patterns, and right now the rain was acting along. Rain was pouring down from the clouds in the form much like that of a monsoon and there was barely any heat in the air. The jungle was also very dark for the clouds were blocking literally all light from the sky and the rain had turned the ground into a sludge hole. Even though there were only small puddles, the rain had turned all the hills into muddy slides and even stepping once away from wherever you would land in this swamp would get your feet and legs covered with mud and water.

Then, as if for the first time, a speck of light appeared in the sky above the trees, descending towards the ground. As it came closer, it was revealed to be a pelican. On board was sergeant John and a squad of about seven other marines. One of them was Moe, who had his camcorder on his shoulder and it was recording. The rock music playing in the background was 'Alpha Centauri', a song made about seven years ago and was very popular, at least on Earth. To the marines, it was old but they did think it was good so it was not all that bad.

The reason they were coming here, and would be joined by captain McCrea later on, was because of a weapons cache that had fallen into this part of the ring after the battle on the _Axiom _several days earlier. It had some weapons that could help in turning the tide of the battle on this ring and one thing that captain McCrea was certain of that was in this weapons cache was a device that could contact the UNSC forces in Humanity's home system and let them know where exactly the ship was. The only problem now was that they had to search the designated area to find this weapons cache.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen turned from looking outside to facing the soldiers sitting across from Moe. One of them was not pleased to see the camcorder facing him.

"Moe, will you turn that thing off!" he moaned.

"No way," came Moe's voice. "This is my personal item and I'll do what I want with it!"

"I thought you said you would let one of us use it."another of the soldier's sitting across from the soldier filming.

"Yeah, well I changed my mind,"the soldier replied. "I'm not lending this out. Not after the time I leant out my other camcorder to you guys and you gave it back to me looking like it went through a battle cruiser's engine."

"Hey! I did say that wasn't my fault!"the soldier sitting on the other side of the resting area argued back. "I did tell you that some jackass left it on the one of the rollers in the cafeteria. I didn't know it was on there anyway!"

"Ah, can it you guys!"John barked. The arguing ceased immediately. "You guys are worse than the UNSC top commanders!"

"Hey, sarge?" one of the soldiers sitting on the filming soldier's side asked. "Why do we have to listen to this old crap?"

"Watch your mouth, son!"John said. "This music is the only thing reminding us of what we're fighting to protect,"

"Hey, if the Covenant want to destroy this particular part of my service in the UNSC army, that's fine by me,"the soldier replied.

"It'd be fine by me if they destroyed Moe's damn camcorder!" one of the soldier's sitting on John's side of the pelican's resting area said.

The screen shifted back face the soldier's sitting across from the soldier filming.

"Screw you,"the soldier said.

"_LZ looks clear. I'm bringing us down," _

The screen turned right to face the pelican's entrance. The swamp was visible outside. The ground got closer, meaning the pelican was descending towards it.

"Go! Go! Go!"John's voice ordered.

The screen moved upwards as Moe stood up. Behind him, the camcorder's sound receiver picked up the other standing up. Then, the screen suddenly jumped forward into the air before falling and coming to an abrupt and shaky halt, followed by a loud splash from below. The screen looked down to reveal Moe's feet soaking wet. He had jumped from the pelican but had unfortunately landed in the middle of a puddle.

"Ah, Christ!" he hissed.

"Careful, Moe. There's water there," another marine said as he walked past him, coming into view of the screen as Moe moved his shoulders up to face him.

"Haha!" Moe replied, giving a sarcastic laugh. "Yeah, you're real funny, aren't you!" he added in a sarcastic manner.

"Alright, knock it off!" John's voice barked from behind.

"_I'll contact you guys later on when captain McCrea's squad arrives," _came the pilot's voice from the squads' radios.

"Roger that, see you later Victor 933," John's voice replied.

The screen turned and followed the pelican as it hovered up into the air, quickly disappearing amongst the rain and treeline so only the lights on the bottom and front of the craft were visible. When it was about fifty feet above the ground, it flew into the air and disappeared from sight amongst the trees.

"Alright, let's go," John ordered.

**Normal view**

The squad followed him as he ran through the trees. Their hair got wet quickly from the rain but it was starting to lighten up now. Even so, Moe was worried about his camcorder short circuiting from the rain.

As the squad ran through the trees, John suddenly screeched to a halt and raised his hand to halt the squad behind him.

"What is it?" one of the marines asked.

"Look through the trees, dead ahead," he replied, pointing ahead.

The marines did so and saw why John had stopped them. About one hundred feet ahead of them were two lights that seemed to cut through the trees, even further than the lights on the pelican. Was it the pelican though, or was it something else?

"Wonder what it is," Moe said as he stepped forward to get a better view of it.

"It could be Covenant," a marine suggested. "After all, they pretty much control this ring,"

"You could be right, but our weapons cache could be where those lights are," John replied. He bit his lip for a second, thinking over what to do, before he finally came to a decision. "Get your weapons ready," he ordered. "We could be in for a fight,"

The squad obeyed and loaded their weapons or cocked them, readying themselves for a fight that could be just a few moments away.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen shifted from side to side as Moe ran with the squad ran towards the lights. As they approached them, they saw the lights were on top of this large structure that was almost shaped like an A. The squad slowed down and raised their weapons as they approached it.

The structure was placed in between a tiny valley made between two hills and was on the other side of about a twenty foot clearing from the trees. A few bushes were growing around the sides of the entrance but other than that, it was completely bare from the trees to the entrance to this building, save for the grass growing in the clearing. Obviously, whoever built this structure wanted to make sure no one could sneak in undetected and he, or they, had picked a good position to build the structure and done a good job in clearing anything that might be of any use to an approaching enemy.

"Stay alert!" came John's voice from the left as the squad, cautiously, approached the building.

Closer and closer they approached the building. As they approached it, one of the marines suddenly exclaimed. "Whoa!" causing the screen to come to a halt and turn left to face the marine, who had his back to the squad and was looking down at something in the grass on the left edge of the clearing.

The marine turned his head. "Guys, come look at this," he said.

The screen shook from side to side again as Moe ran over to the marine with the others. He stood next to him and looked down at the ground. A few of the marines swore and John and Moe gasped, all of this being picked up by the camcorder's sound receivers, at what they saw.

Lying on the ground in front of them was a dead Jackal. It had several wounds across It's chest and face with It's purple/black blood sprayed across It's body and the ground. The wounds looked like tunnels as they drove deep into the body of the creature. Who, or what, in God's name had done this?

"Anyone have any idea who might have done this?" John, who was standing next to Moe, asked.

They all either shook their heads or replied with "No,"

"Well, whatever did this, let's hope we don't run into it," came Moe's voice.

The other marines around him nodded in agreement. John then looked back at the structure.

"Alright, c'mon," came his voice. The screen turned right to face him and the structure entrance. "Enough sightseeing, let's go,"

The screen shook from side to side again as Moe and the marines followed John towards the entrance to the structure.

"Stay close, Moe," came John's voice.

Moe came to a halt at the top of a large ramp that led down into a large room in the structure. He could just about see a large lift-like device in the middle of a large room.

"Thomson, move up in," John's voice ordered.

A marine, standing on the right side of the screen, nodded and, with his weapon raised, walked forward into the structure. He stopped at the bottom of the ramp and pointed his gun left and right a few times.

"All clear?" John asked him after a few seconds.

"Yes, sir," came the marine's reply.

"Alright, squad. Let's head inside," John ordered. "The captain and his squad should be here soon. Moe, you take point."

"Sir," came Moe's voice.

**Normal view**

The squad, with Moe at the lead, ran down the ramp into the room. It was large with silver walls, floor and ceiling, all having the strange markings engraved in them. Two large pillars, both about two metres from each side wall end of the room, were placed either side of a large lift in a large circular shaped hole. A few inches from the edge of the hole were two control panels sticking up from it with a holographic switch between them.

The squad gazed around the room curiously. This place, this ring…it was all strange. They had never seen anything like this before, not even with the Covenant. They had all seen the strange structures over the large region of the ring where Alpha Base was and where John and his group of marines, along with several other groups of marines, had been rescued by Eve. What was this ring built for? Also, and this was probably a better question, _who_ built it? These strange markings had to mean something, but what?

"Where do we go now?" one of the marines asked.

"Onto the lift," a recognizable voice replied. The squad turned to see captain McCrea and four other marines join them. "Our weapons cache must be somewhere underground,"

"Roger that, sir," John said. "Alright, you heard the captain. Everyone on the lift," he ordered.

The, now eleven strong, squad walked onto the lift. Captain McCrea pressed the holographic switch and the lift jolted slightly as it rose a little into the air before descending from the room into a long tunnel. There was a glass floor in the middle of the lift so it gave the squad a clear view of what was below.

After about five seconds, the lift began to slow down. Then, it emerged from the tunnel into another large room the same as the first one when they had entered the structure, only the two pillars were not stretching up to the ceiling and seemed to have just been placed there randomly and on the right wall was a hexagon shaped door with two green lights on the front of it.

The squad walked off the lift and towards the door. It opened as they approached it and they walked through into a large square/rectangular shaped room on a large platform with two control panels near the end of it, in front of them with a holographic switch between them. At the other end of the room was another platform with two control panels and a holographic switch between them. There was also another hexagon shaped door on the back wall of the room with two red lights on the front of them, meaning it was locked. Underneath the platform, again on the other side of the room, was another hexagon shaped door with red lights on it, meaning it was also locked.

The squad walked to the end of the platform and looked down from the edge. The floor was only about a fifteen foot drop. They could also see another hexagon shaped door on the right wall, this one with green lights on the front, which meant it was unlocked.

"Which way should we go, sir?" John asked.

Captain McCrea looked down at the door on the right wall and up at the hexagon shaped door at the other end of the room and back down at the right wall again. Which way were they to go? None of them had been in this structure before and with the threat of the Covenant here, any way they might go could be a mistake.

Finally, McCrea made his decision. "We'll go through the right door," he said.

The squad jumped down from the platform to the floor and walked towards the door on the right wall. It opened as they approached it and they walked through the open doorway into a thin corridor that went both left and right and turned ahead of them and joining another corridor at either end, forming a kind of square shaped corridor. The walls were cream coloured and the floor was silver, both, as usual, having the strange markings engraved in them.

As the squad looked right, they all stopped and went wide-eyed. McCrea whispered "My God!" and some of the marines, John and Moe among them, swore under their breaths.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen was facing the corner of the corridor that was on the turning that led left into the next part of the corridor. On the floor and splattered up the walls was light blue blood and a few tiny traces of dark purple/black blood. Among the mess was a dead Grunt and a dead Jackal, both having the trench-like wounds scattered all over them.

"What a mess!" Moe said.

"What the Hell did this?" a marine asked.

"No idea, but whatever it is, It's got to be dangerous," McCrea replied. "Stay alert. We might run into…whatever did this,"

The squad walked down the corridor, desperately steeping over the blood and the bodies and turned left into the next part of the corridor and walked down to the end and then turned left into the next part of the corridor, only this one had a hexagon shaped door on the right wall. They walked towards it andit opened for them and they walked through the doorway.

They found themselves in another square shaped room that was smaller than the first room they had entered with dark grey coloured walls and floor. In the middle of the room was a large cube shaped object that stretched up from the floor to the ceiling. On the floor around it was shattered glass. Above them, going along the sides of the walls about ten feet above the floor were walkways that formed an intersection-like pathway network that went around the sides of the cube shaped object. On the ground floor's left wall was another hexagon shaped door and above it, for access to the walkway, was another hexagon shaped door. Scattered across the floor of this room was more light blue blood. A dead Grunt and a dead Elite lying on the floor had pools of blood around them. The squad began to get a bit more anxious about this place. With dead Covenant scattered everywhere, there was something here that was killing them easily. What it was, they did not know and when they would meet it, they were nervous about.

Captain McCrea led the squad over to the door on the left wall and it opened as they approached it, revealing another square shaped corridor. Luckily, this one was clear of dead Covenant. They walked through this corridor and through the door at the end into another room that was about the same size as the first room they had entered in when they had come down here. It had two platforms at either end of the room with control panels on them, two hexagon shaped doors, also at both ends, and another hexagon shaped door on the left wall of the room opposite the squad. The only difference between this room and the first room they had entered when they had come down here was that the two platforms were connected by walkways that led to either ends of the room.

The squad walked towards the door at the other side of the room. It opened automatically for them as they approached it, revealing another square shaped corridor. There were no dead Covenant in here and they walked through this corridor to the end and through the hexagon shaped door into another square shaped room with a cube shaped door in the middle of the room and the network of pathways around the walls and the cube shaped object. However, this room was more of a mess. There were scorch marks across the floor and walls, light blue blood was splattered over the floor, two Grunts were lying dead in the corner of the room and a small fire was raging at the top left end of the room, where part of a walkway had collapsed onto some huge cube-shaped object. There was also a dead Elite lying on the floor near the cube shaped object and around it, other than It's blood, was smashed glass from the cube shaped object.

"Jesus!" one of the marines gasped as they walked into the room and spread out to investigate the damage around them. "This is getting more destructive,"

The others nodded in agreement and spread out across the room.

**Camcorder's view**

The screen was looking down at a large scorch mark with a dead Grunt at the top of the screen.

"Whoa, look at this!" a voice exclaimed from the right.

The screen turned slightly and looked up to see a marine standing over the carcass of the Elite. Sergeant John walked up to the body and looked down at the body of the creature. Moe ran over to the body, where John and the marine were engaged in conversation.

"But It's just weird," the marine said. "I mean, look at him…" the marine podded the Elite with his foot. "Something scrambled the insides,"

John looked back down at the carcass as if examining it. "What's that? Plasma scarring?" he asked.

"Yeah, I dunno," the marines replied. "Maybe there was an accident. You know, friendly fire or something?"

"What have we here?" captain McCrea's voice asked.

The screen looked up slightly to see him walk up to the carcass and look down at it.

"Looks like a Covenant patrol, sir," John answered. "Badass Elites. All of 'em KIA,"

"Real pretty," McCrea said sarcastically, looking down at the carcass of the Elite. "Friend of yours?" he asked the soldier.

"Nah, sir," the soldier replied, sounding slightly apprehensive. "We just met,"

**Normal view**

The captain looked around the room, searching for another way out of here. There was only one door on the ground floor and that was the one they had entered the room through. Finally, his eyes rested on something that could get them out of here.

"Alright, listen up." He announced. "I need five of you to stay behind. Any volunteers?" no one said anything. "Alright, you five-" he pointed at five marines. "You stay here. The rest, follow me," he concluded and began walking towards the section of the pathway that had collapsed.

The other six men, including John, of the squad followed him. After pulling themselves up onto the pathway, they walked towards the hexagon shaped door on the left wall. It opened as they approached it and they walked through the square shaped corridor into another large room that was just like the first room they had entered coming down into the structure, only there were no pathways leading from one platform at one end of the room to the other and the door they had entered the room through was on the side wall of the platform at the left end of the room.

The squad looked across to the other side of the room as they walked further down the platform. There was only one door there, it being on the back wall of the room, and it was torn open, It's remains scattered across the floor. They had to get there somehow.

"Let's try the switch," Moe suggested, pointing over to the control panel.

"Good idea, marine," captain McCrea replied.

The squad walked over to the control panel and captain McCrea rested his hand on the switch. At once, a loud whirring sound filled the room and a purple haze began to form in mid-air between the two platforms. As it became more visible, it was revealed to be a type of energy bridge. When it was fully formed, it was coloured a dark pink colour and was completely transparent.

"Is it a good idea to walk on this thing?" John asked.

"Let's test it out," captain McCrea replied.

He stepped forward and the squad were amazed to see his foot come to a halt on the energy bridge as if he was walking on the ground.

"Yep, It's fine. Let's go," McCrea told them.

He led the squad over the bridge to the platform at the other end and through the open doorway into a large rectangular shaped room with a large rectangular shaped object that took up most of the floor space. It stretched up to the ceiling and had two openings either ends of it. On the wall behind the squad was a large glass window, giving them a clear view of the room they had just left.

The squad walked around the left side of the rectangular object and saw a pathway descending down towards a small landing at the end, where another pathway descended down from the entrance at the other end of the rectangular shaped object.

"Let's check down there," McCrea said.

**Camcorder's POV**

The screen shook from side to side as Moe walked alongside captain McCrea to the landing, the rest of the squad following close behind. When they reached the landing at the bottom of the pathway, they saw a small corridor on the left leading to another rectangular shaped door that had green lights on the front of it. However, as they walked towards it, the door did not open.

_That's strange _Moe thought.

"Wonder why It's not opening?" McCrea asked himself and the screen turned round to face the squad, who were now in the doorway. Moe was the front next to the door, then there were two marines then John and McCrea and bringing up the rear of the squad was a marine who had his back to them , aiming his weapon out onto the landing in case anything tried to attack them from behind.

"Beats me, sir," came Moe's voice.

"I've got something that might open the door," one of the marines crouched in front of John and McCrea piped up.

"Good," McCrea replied. "Alright, let's get this door open,"

"I'll try, sir, but it looks like the Covenant worked pretty hard to lock it down,"

"Use your Spoofer,"

"Yes, sir,"

The marine got up and walked towards the door and took out a small square shaped object that was like a control pad. This was the Spoofer, a nickname given to it by the UNSC soldiers. It could unlock, lock, hack into the most protected devices anywhere and even set off any timed explosive devices within a seventy mile radius.

The marine placed it on the door and typed in a code. Sure enough, the door opened, revealing a large rectangular-like room with two large ramp-like objects in the middle of the room, several more hexagon shaped doors along the walls, including one on the back wall of the room directly opposite of the door the squad were at and about four large pillars along the walls, two on each side of the room. The screen shook slightly again as Moe and the squad ran into the room. A click to Moe's right caught his attention and he looked, the camcorder also turning right, to see captain McCrea with an M6C pistol in his hand.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," one of the marines said.

"Tomson, you always got a bad idea about something-" Jon replied, but was cut off quickly by a crackling from his radio.

_"Captain! Sarge! Can you hear me?" _John took out the radio and held it up to his lips.

"What's going on corporal?" he said into the radio.

"_We've got contact! Lot's of 'em!" _the voice replied in a panicked tone. Something was going on._ "There not Covenant!…They're tearing through us!… What the!… OOOH! NOOO!" KZK _

The radio was suddenly cut off. Something was not right. Why had the marine that had contacted them sound panicked? And if he was, what was he panicked about?

"Corporal!" John exclaimed as the radio went dead. "Do you copy, over?"

There was no response. Only silence, which was definitely not a good sign if it suddenly came up and cut off a marine that sounded panicked.

"Thomson, get up to Second Squad's position and find out what the hell is going on?"John ordered at a nearby marine.

"But, si-!"the soldier protested.

"I don't have time for your lip, soldier!" John barked at the marine. "I gave you an order!"

"Sarge!" the marine shouted, getting John's attention. "Listen!"

_HIIIIISSSSSSS_

The screen moved from side to side as Moe looked around, desperately trying to find the source of the noise. It did not sound good, not good at all. What was it and where was it coming from?

"What the Hell is that?" one of the marines asked.

"Where's that coming from, Thomson?" John asked the marine, now a hint of panic in his voice.

"I don't know, sarge," the marine replied.

"Over there," McCrea suddenly exclaimed, pointing over at the left wall of the room.

The screen turned left to see a hexagon shaped door suddenly expand outwards as if it was a balloon being inflated. Every time it expanded, it emitted a loud boom. Then…

BOOM! The door burst open, breaking apart and the remains falling onto the floor. Then, a wave of creatures swarmed out of the room on the other side of the door. A small whisper of "Holy God!" came from above the camcorder, indicating it was Moe.

The creatures were only small, but they looked terrifying. They were not Covenant, no. They had bodies shaped like skulls, massive flab parts sticking out of the back of their heads like hats and they had many small tentacles sticking out of the bottom of their body. The creatures made a loud hissing noise as they approached the squad.

"AAARRGH! AHHHH! GET IF OFF ME!" a voice screamed.

The screen the moved left again to see a marine fall to the floor. On top of him was one of the creatures and it was eating away at his flesh. Another marine ran over and pulled the creature off him, but the creature just attached itself to him and began eating away at him.

A barrage of gunfire exploded in the room. The screen moved from left to right to see the creatures explode like balloon when they were hit, but they just kept coming!

"Sergeant, we're surrounded!" McCrea warned.

"Moe, fire your weapon!" John ordered.

The camcorder scene looked downwards at Moes hands as he struggled to pull out his gun. Just as he did, he accidentally spilled some bullets over the floor. Moe scrambled down to pick them up and quickly load them into hbis weapon so he could help his comrades fight off these… Things!

"Moe, look out!" John shouted.

**Normal view**

Moe looked up ahead of him. Just as he did, one of the creatures launched itself at him, covering his camcorder, and began eating away at him. Moe screamed as he tried desperately to pull it off, but it was no use. This creature was sticking to him like superglue.

Then, Moe just dropped dead onto the floor and more of the creatures descended upon him. Around him, more of the creatures descended onto his comrades, quickly bringing them down as well. Their hissing grew louder and filled the air like an evil chorus.

After that, blackness was all that Moe could remember.


	34. Mutant

"Uuuggggh! Ohhhhhhh!" THUD! "OW!"

Moe stirred and groggily opened his eyes. W-where was he? All he could remember was that they were in the structure. They were looking for a weapon cache. Then…then, those…those things attacked them…and….and killed them all.

All but him.

Moe looked up to see a soldier in an ODST uniform with a large rope in his hand. The rope was attached to Moe's shoulders through some kind of device. Moe looked around to see a few other soldiers walking with them.

Then, his eyes rested on someone, who was walking on his right, familiar. It was him! The person who he had not seen since the battle at Sukuki on Takra many months ago.

It was Gofer. What the Hell was he doing here?

One of the marines walking next to Gofer looked down at Moe.

"Sir, he's waking up," he said.

Gofer looked at Moe and smiled a little.

"Good," he replied. "I was beginning to think we'd have to shock him,"

Moe tried to reply but for some reason, he just could not. Why? He could speak a few moments ago so why had he suddenly stop-

Then, a horrible feeling filled his stomach. It shot up from there through his body like a missile and, turning on his side, he vomited on the ground, making a kind of trail as he was dragged along. The soldiers did not even bother to help him, they just looked at the sick and him, grimaced or rolled their eyes and walked on. Why were they doing this?

It was then, as Moe moved his head back upright, he noticed something different about him. Looking down at his body, he saw several tears in his uniform and they had been replaced by growths that were the colour of his skin. It looked as though his body had swelled up. His eyes went wide and he looked across his arms and legs. One of his arms was now more of a tentacle with long tentacle fingers sticking out of the end of it and was covered with growths. A few more growths were scattered over his face and head. He looked like a kind of mutant, which, in a way, he was.

Moe moved his tentacle arm towards one of the soldiers walking next to him and tried to grab his hand.

"H-help me!" he gasped.

"Get off me!" the soldier hissed, knocking Moe's hand away from him. Moe looked towards Gofer.

"W-where are you t-taking me?" he asked.

"Alpha Base," Gofer replied. "You're going to be useful to us," and with that, he walked on past Moe and the soldiers around him and led the group through a small valley entrance.

Moe looked left and right around him. He could see a few trees along the hills that seemed to surround him on all sides. Gofer was right. They were taking him back to Alpha Base, but what use would he be them? Why did Gofer want him alive? He was obviously infected by…some kind of bacteria or something from one of those creatures when they attacked him but why would he be useful? What could he possibly have in his biological body, which was probably completely screwed up completely now, that could be of use to Gofer? 

After about another ten minutes, the group reached Alpha Base. Around them were the scenes that a battle had recently been fought here. Large parts of the ground were scorched completely of their grass, several trees were burning and the remains of a few tents and one of the cube shaped buildings lay on the ground. Nearby, the remains of the Covenant drop ship the captain, Eve, John and the other survivors had used to get back here earlier on lay against the bottom of the hill, a pillar of smoke rising above it as It's L section had been torn apart and the main section with the cannon was smashed completely into rubble. Many dead bodies lay scattered across the ground. They were a mixture of Human, Covenant and these strange, and sick looking, mutant-like things that were about the height of an Elite but were obviously mutated in such a way that it was impossible to tell whether the bodies had also been infected and mutated or whether they had been born that way.

When the group reached the base, Gofer and the soldier dragging Moe pulled him over to a nearby crate and placed him against it. A few nearby workers and soldiers, who were mainly getting rid of the bodies, saw Moe and pointed at him, filled completely with disbelief over what he looked like now. Gofer knelt down in front of him and grabbed Moe's face and held it up and examined it.

"Hmmm," he said, smiling a little. "His sight looks good and, as long as his legs-" he looked down at them to see a few large growths scattered over them. "-are in working condition, he could still walk."

Moe coughed, throwing a small brownish cloud out of his mouth, and looked at Gofer.

"What are you-(cough)-going to do to me?" he asked.

"We're going to take you back to Earth," Gofer replied. "Your body is of the utmost priority now."

Moe went wide-eyed. They were taking him back to Earth? No! No, they could not! They did not know how serious his body was!

"Y-you can't!" he gasped. "My body…It's s-s-still mutating!"

"That is a chance I and my men here are going to take," Gofer told him. "Your body could save Humanity, so think of it like that. You could be a hero and die for your people but knowing they will survive!"

Moe, weakly, glared at Gofer. He was crazy! He did not know how serious the infection in his body was! If Moe continued to mutate, he could turn into one of these…things and go crazy! No! Gofer was not going to save Humanity if he took him back to Earth. He would destroy it!

Moe tried to lift his arm up to hit Gofer, but he was too weak. Gofer saw what he was doing and got up and stepped back a few paces.

"Lock him up!" he ordered. "And make sure he doesn't get out!"

Two of the soldiers nodded and grabbed Moe by the arms and pulled him over towards one of the nearby cube shaped buildings. He tried to struggle against them but he was too weak and they were much stronger than him. When they reached the open doorway, they threw him into the room and shut the door locking it behind him. As Moe sat up, rubbing his growth covered head with his tentacle hand, bars lowered down from the walls over the windows of the room. He was now trapped. Gofer appeared at one of them.

"Don't worry, you won't be in there long," he said to him. "And try and stay the way you are," he walked off.

Moe tried to stand up but he was too weak. The infection was overwhelming him like a plague. After a few tries, he finally gave up and buried his face in his knees and, weakly, began to sob.

Outside, Gofer was walking towards the other cube shaped building. A few marines that were working around the base watched him go with disbelief. Why had he done that? How could he do something like that to a fellow soldier?

"Sir," a voice said from behind him. Gofer turned to see a worker running towards him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I think we've found a way to get back to Earth," the worker replied.


	35. Arrival on the truth and Reconciliation

**One hour later**

In the dark night skies above the surface of the ring world of Halo, three large shapes flew over the desert-like canyons below. They were pelicans in a triangle formation. On board each one was a squad of eight marines and workers. In the lead pelican, lying on the floor, was a cryo-tube. Inside it was a man but the growths and disfigurements. It was Moe. At the moment, he was asleep, the infection having pained him enough to make him pass out. However, that did not mean it was not stopping. He was becoming more like the Flood and with every passing second, he grew weaker, and closer to becoming one of the Flood.

The other marines sitting around the resting area looked down at the cryo-tube. Sergeant Gofer leant forward in his seat and looked at the mutated marine and smiled.

_Our survival and our salvation, both right in front of me_ he thought amusingly.

He could see himself now. he would be the one who would bring this mutant back to Earth, he would be the one who would have given Humanity the chance to win the war against the Covenant, not these dam super soldiers. If they were super soldiers, then how come only Eve was left?

_Some soldiers _Gofer thought and smirked a little.

"Sir!" a voice called from the cog pit. Gofer looked over towards it and saw the co-pilot stick his head out. "We're approaching the _Truth and Reconciliation _now,"

"Good," Gofer replied and he stood up. "Alright, everyone get ready," he ordered.

The other marines in the resting area stood up and grabbed their weapons, some loading ammunition into them. Gofer walked into the cog pit and looked out through the window to see the enormous shape of the Covenant CCS battle cruiser the _Truth and Reconciliation _about one mile ahead of them, hovering about half a mile above the canyons of the surface below. He smiled again. This was it, this was their finest hour, _his_ finest hour. If they could get on board that ship and get back to Earth, then they could use Moe's mutated body to breed some new kind of enhancements for the soldiers. If they did that, then the Covenant would be finished and Humanity will win the war. All they had to do was gain control of the ship, which would be easy for them as their pelican lights were turned off to give them the element of surprise.

In the resting area, the other marines were either looking at the sky through the pelican entrance or down at the cryo-tube containing their mutant comrade. One of the marines kicked the side of the cryo-tube lightly, rocking Moe's figure inside it and chuckled along with a few other marines. One of the marines, however, sighed quietly in sympathy for him and resumed looking out at the dark sky that seemed to stretch out everywhere.

Suddenly, the craft jolted a little as they felt it descend. Gofer walked out of the cog pit and picked up his M6C magnum.

"Get ready, men," he said. "Follow me and we'll make it through this alive,"

"Sir," the young marine who had felt sorry for Moe piped up, drawing Gofer's and the other marine's attention. "Um…what are we going to do about him?" he asked.

"We'll leave him in the ship when we land," Gofer replied. "And you can guard him," he added.

The other marines chuckled slightly, knowing that this new recruit had to be stuck guarding this mutant freak rather than fighting the Covenant. Oh, well. That meant more Covenant for them to kill.

"Hang on back there!" the pilot warned from the cog pit. "We're approaching the hanger now,"

Gofer looked through the cog pit doorway and saw a large vertical rectangular shaped hole in the side of the ship about half a mile away. However, as they approached it, a small craft suddenly shot out from the hanger. It was a Covenant banshee. A few purple coloured shade turret blasts followed close behind it in a vain attempt to shoot it down, but the banshee was travelling too fast and, within a few seconds, disappeared into the night sky.

_Wonder what that one was doing? _Gofer thought, but decided to shrug it off and looked on at the hanger, and went wide-eyed.

Explosions were erupting all over it as if the hanger itself was going to explode, blasts were flying in all directions, small and large figures were running about across the hanger floor and several large craft hovering next to a large rectangular shaped walkway that on top of a large wall going down the middle to the hanger and stopping about twenty or so feet from the wall between the two hanger entrances, had fallen to the hanger floor and were now burning piles of metal.

"What the Hell is going on?" Gofer said to himself. He shook his head and turned to his men. "Alright, hang on! We're gonna be in for a rough landing!"

A few moments later, the pelicans flew through the hanger entrance. The pilots had gone to descend the craft, but Gofer had ordered them to fly into the floor for everyone to get out, saying that it would be quicker and would save lives of the marines and give them a bit of time. The pilot of his pelican had objected ellHeHbut Gofer had ignored him and had even grabbed the controls and driven the pelican into the hanger floor, causing it to skid across it, crushing many Covenant and forcing many others to dive out of the way, until it was brought to a halt by the remains of, what had been, a parked Covenant drop ships' turret. The other two pelicans came to a halt either side of Gofer's pelican.

"Everyone out!" Gofer ordered.

The marines obeyed and ran out of the resting area, firing away at the Covenant, all of who were special ops soldiers. One of the marines fired a burst of ammo at a nearby Grunt, killing it. Two other marines, as they jumped off the pelican that had landed left of Gofer's, fired on an Elite. The bullets lit up the creature's armour shield before they finally broke through and embedded themselves in the chest of the Elite, killing it. Gofer jumped out of the back of the pelican and fired on a nearby grunt armed with a plasma cannon. The grunt flipped backwards with a yell onto It's stomach but dropped It's plasma cannon, which, immediately, was set alight. BOOM! The weapon exploded in a green fireball that tipped the left pelican slightly to It's right before it fell back onto the floor again and threw a few marines to the floor, including Gofer.

"JESUS CHRIST! WHAT THE HELL ARE THOSE THINGS!" a marine yelled all of a sudden with terror, pointing over towards the large block.

Gofer, who picked himself up from the floor, looked over at where the marine was pointing and his eyes went wide.

A wave of creatures was coming towards them. They looked like Moe, only…they were much more mutated, which only made them more terrifying to look at. There were tall ones, about the height of an Elite, with large tentacle hands and arms and large thick legs where the toes of an Elite stuck out at the bottom of each leg. They had large muscular bodies and were a light brown colour and covered with growths. Among them were smaller mutated creatures, which were just as terrifying. They were about the height of a normal Human man and had large tentacle arms, only they had small tentacles at the ends of their hands they were swishing around in the air as if they were trying to grab something invisible. Their bodies were also covered with growths and these ones, unlike their larger counterparts, were carrying weapons, both Covenant and UNSC.

Then, one of the tall creatures jumped towards the marines standing near the right pelican. When it landed a few feet from them, it swung It's tentacle arm at them, hitting one of the marines in the chest and across the face. The marine fell to the floor, dead.

"KILL IT!" one of the marines that had jumped away from the creature after it had killed his comrade yelled as he got up.

The marines fired a barrage of bullets at the creature and the others behind it. The creature that had killed the marine was hit repeatedly and fell to the floor, dead, having had both arms and the flabby piece of It's head shot off. Many of the creatures in the large wave were also hit and fell to the floor dead.

"KILL MONSTERS!" a high pitched voice yelled from behind the pelicans.

Gofer looked left and saw a special ops Elite run out of an open doorway, along the back wall of the hanger, with a squad of about four special ops Grunts run into the hanger and fire on the creatures. Their blasts did more damage, which the squad quickly saw as the Elite fired only two bursts from his plasma rifle and they hit and killed one of the large two legged creatures.

"Fire on those Covenant!" Gofer ordered.

"But, sir," the young marine, who had been ordered to guard Moe and was in the pelican taking cover in the resting area, replied. "They're pretty much helping us fire on those things,"

"I don't care! Just kill 'em!" Gofer replied sternly and he fired a shot from his pistol at the Grunts, hitting and killing one of them, as if it was to order where his squad of marines where to fire next, which it pretty much did because as soon as he fired a shot at the Covenant, four of the marines, who had gotten out of the left crashed pelican, aimed their weapons at the Covenant and fired on them, wiping them out very quickly.

The marine in the pelican quickly moved behind the wall and slid down to the resting area's floor, resting his back against the hard metal behind him. This was getting out of hand! Gofer had ordered them to fire on a group if Covenant that were also trying to kill these creatures. Okay, maybe they were enemy soldiers that they had been fighting for a long time, but…but, these things, these monsters! They were even more terrifying than the Covenant. In fact, they were even killing the Covenant! Surely the two sides, despite their hatred and differences between each other could join forces to try and get rid of these things that were killing them both?

"That won't happen," a voice said, making him jump.

The marine looked around the resting area and saw the cryo-tube with It's glass broken. A large figure was standing behind it. The marine looked at the figure…and gulped.

It was him. It was that mutated marine, Moe.

He was more like those creatures now. His skin was already beginning to turn a golden brown colour and one of his arms was fully like a tentacle one like those on the tall two legged creatures. His uniform, which was still partly intact around his chest and legs, was more torn though. One hole even had a large bulge-like growth covering it.

Moe walked around the cryo-tube towards the marine, who gasped in panic and raised his weapon.

"St-stay away!" he cried. "I-I-I mean it! Back off!"

"Calm down," Moe reassured him, though in a stern voice.

"Why should I? Your one of those…those things! Your only gonna kill me!"

"No I won't,"

The soldier stared at Moe for a moment. What! He was not going to kill him? Wait, was this a trick?

"W-why are-aren't you?" the marine stuttered, still keeping his weapon trained on Moe and placing his finger on the trigger.

Moe took another step forward towards the soldier and knelt down. "Because I need your help," he said.

The soldier gave him a puzzled look. "What! What do you mean: you need my help?"

"I mean; I need your help in stopping Gofer out there and these things along with the Covenant," Moe stood up and held out his other arm, which was mostly a tentacle form now but still showed a few remnants of a Human arm up and down it, to the marine. "What's your name, soldier?" he asked the marine.

"Umm…" the marine stuttered in panic. "It's Vingo, private Vingo," he said and, gingerly, he took Moe's hand and Moe helped him up.

"Well, Vingo," he said. "We've got Humanity to save. Let's go,"


	36. Their sacrifice

"So what do we do first?"

Moe responded by creeping to the end of the resting area and looking out. Though his vision was quite blurry, and that a bit of growth was now trying to cover one of his eyes, he could see that all of the creatures were dead, the last one having been killed just as he looked out of the resting area and the marines lowering their weapons and Gofer looking around the hanger.

"The way out of here is no good," Moe told Vingo. "And I doubt the pelican's flyable,"

"Private Vingo!" a voice barked from the hanger.

Moe and Vingo's eyes went wide. That voice was Gofer's! Then, footfalls filled the air. With that voice and those footfalls, then it only meant one thing.

"Quick, get in the cryo-tube!" Vingo hissed at Moe.

Deciding it was best to listen and not fight Gofer and his marines, Moe obeyed and ran over to the cryo-tube and climbed in and laid down. Vingo then, with all his might, pushed it further towards the cog pit so Gofer and his men would not see the smashed glass. It was difficult though, as Moe, who had now grown a little over the past few hours because of his mutation, and the cryo-tube was not really a normal box of household items, but he managed to push it a few feet before Gofer appeared in the resting area entrance. Luckily, Vingo quickly grabbed his weapon and turned to face Gofer as he appeared.

"Sir," Vingo said, giving a salute.

"Alright, soldier," Gofer replied. "Keep an eye on him and defend him with your life!" he told him sternly. "We'll be back soon,"

Vingo nodded and Gofer walked right and disappeared from sight. His voice then barked out: "Alright, men. Let's go and find and take control of the ship's bridge!" and a chorus of footfalls filled the air for a few moments before a faint beep sounded from somewhere and the footfalls started again but quickly died away.

Vingo ran to the end of the resting area and looked out. The marines were gone. So far, the hanger was clear, but there would be more of these creatures and Covenant soon so it was best to leave now.

"Alright, It's clear," Vingo said and Moe climbed out of the cryo-tube. As he did so, he winced a little and placed a hand on his chest and leaned forward slightly, making him look as if he was going to throw up. Vingo, looking over his shoulder, noticed this. "Are you alright?" he asked Moe, sounding a little worried.

Moe nodded, but the look of pain on his face told Vingo otherwise. "The infection," Moe replied. "It's…overwhelming me, but I'll be alright."

Vingo did not look so convinced, but he thought it was best he did not say anything. They had little time for talking about this infection overwhelming Moe anyway. They had to find Gofer and his men and stop them before they gained control of this ship and got it flying again.

The two jumped down from the resting area and ran towards a door on the left wall of the hanger. As they approached it, it beeped loudly and opened, revealing a corridor with purple walls and a silver floor and ceiling and that was going up at a twenty degree angle towards a kind of circular section at the end.

Moe and Vingo ran down the corridor to the end. Another corridor, though this time with greenish colour in the purple walls, led off to their right. At the end was a locked door and another corridor on the left wall, about ten feet up from the locked door at the end of the corridor, led off to the left. However, scattered across the floor of the corridor were many dead Covenant, both special ops and regular infantry soldiers. There were also three dead small two legged creatures on the floor, one having had both of It's arms shot off. Whether Gofer and his men had done this, or these bodies had been here for some time the two did not know, but they knew that there would be many more dead Covenant and more of these dead creatures before the battle for this ship was over.

Shaking what was in front of them out of their minds and coming back into reality, the two ran down the corridor and turned left into the next corridor, which was about half as long as the corridor they had just left and, like the first corridor, led to a small circular-like room, only this one had C-like shaped pillars along the pink walls with holographic symbols in front of them and there was a large pipe-like metallic object going down the middle of the room from the ceiling and through the floor. Another corridor led off to the right. There were no dead bodies in this corridor, but there were several scorch marks, along with a few Covenant weapons, scattered up and down the corridor.

Moe and Vingo ran down to the end of the corridor and turned left into the next corridor, which was also a short corridor with a kind of circular room at the end. On the left wall was a doorway, the remains of the door that had been there were scattered on the floor covered in scorch marks, that led into a kind of intersection corridor with three locked doors.

"KILL THEM!"

Suddenly, a barrage of light blue blasts flew out from the doorway and hit the wall opposite it, just a few metres in front of Moe and Vingo. Then, a minor Elite ran out of the corridor, a plasma rifle in his hand, firing down into the doorway. A loud high pitched yell erupted from the doorway and the body of a minor Grunt fell to the floor. Then, slithering over it, a small swarm of about ten creatures, who were skull shaped and had red tentacles coming out of the bottom of their bodies, moved across the floor towards the Elite, who was firing desperately at them but his panic kept on making him miss.

"Those are the creatures that attacked me!" Moe gasped. He looked down at his body and then at the creatures. "But why haven't I been completely infected by them?" he asked himself.

Suddenly, one of the creatures jumped onto the Elite, making It's armour shield light up for a second before it disappeared, small green electricity volts replacing the shield over the armour, and purple blood began to squeeze out of the Elite. The Covenant soldier roared in pain and tried desperately to pull the creature off him, but failed and more of the creatures, like sharks being attracted to the scent of blood, jumped onto the elite and began to eat away at It's flesh. Finally, after a few seconds, the Elite finally collapsed to the floor and moved no more.

"Jesus!" Vingo gasped, obviously shaken at what he had just seen.

His voice was a big mistake. The creatures turned to face him and Moe and began to slither towards them. Vingo raised his weapon and fired a burst of ammo at the creatures. The bullets hit one of them and made it pop like a balloon, but caused a chain reaction that made the others pop like balloons as well, and all that happened in a matter of seconds.

"Nice one," Moe commented.

"Thanks," Vingo replied. "Okay, we better keep moving. No doubt more of those things'll show up."

Moe nodded in agreement and the two ran down the corridor to the end and turned left into the next corridor, which had a kind of dark coloured red with light silver coloured floors and ceiling that was covered with scorch marks and light blue and purple blood and led to another door at the end. Maybe it led onto the walkways.

The two ran down the corridor to the end. However, as they approached it, which made it open, a large creature was standing on the other side. It was another of those tall two legged creatures, and it was facing them!

The creature growled and swung It's tentacle arm at them.

"Vingo, look out!" Moe shouted, pushing him to the floor and raising his tentacle arm to defend himself.

The creature's tentacle arm hit Moe's arm but, other than give him a stinging pain, did not really do any damage. Moe was surprised at this but quickly decided it was best not to risk the creature hitting him again and pushed the creature away from him and swung his tentacle arm at it, hitting the creature in the side of what looked like the head and throwing it into the wall, knocking off the flabby piece on the top of It's body.

"Whoa!" Vingo exclaimed as he got up. "You did more damage to that thing than I would with my bullets!"

Moe did not reply. He just stared at his tentacle arm, looking at it as if it were a weapon he had never seen before, which it was in a way. Vingo was right though. He had killed this creature with his own tentacle arm and had barely sustained any damage when the creature had hit him. Why was that though?

_Maybe…_ he thought as he looked down at his mutated body again. _Maybe it's because…I'm still part Human_

BOOM! An explosion lit up the dimly hit hanger. The two ran out of the corridor onto the first walkway. About twenty to thirty feet below them were the remains of two Covenant banshees. Lying on the floor next to them were their Elite pilots, both beings special ops Elites. A few tall creatures with shields (Jackals) ran out from under the walkway and began firing underneath it. Then, a large group of the two legged creatures, both tall and small jumped out towards them and began attacking them. A few screeches filled the air as some if the Jackals fell, spraying blood everywhere across the floor.

"Looks like the Covenant are really content on getting rid of these things and getting the ship out of here," Moe said.

"Yeah," Vingo replied. "But at the rate these things are spreading, I wouldn't be surprised if they failed,"

"Alright men, move out!" a voice shouted from further down the walkway.

The two looked down the walkway just in time to see a figure fire a burst of ammo behind the turning on the left wall at the other end of the walkway. It was a marine. If there was a marine there, then that was where Gofer's squad was!

"What do we do?" Vingo asked Moe.

Moe did not reply straight away. What were they to do? They had to stop Gofer anyway, but would they have to kill him? It was a hard decision.

"We let them go ahead," Moe told Vingo after a few seconds.

"B-but won't that mean we're letting him get to the bridge?"

Moe nodded. "But It'll also mean he'll run head first into any Covenant and any of those creatures."

Vingo went to reply but decided not to and they watched as the marine fired another burst of ammo behind the turning on the left wall and then ran behind it, shouting something as he did. Another moment of shooting and shouting passed before it finally faded away.

"Alright, let's go," Moe said to Vingo.

The two ran down the walkway towards the end. As they passed the area of the walkway that led onto the large block…

_ROOOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRR!_

Suddenly, a large group of two legged creatures, both tall and small, seemed to descend from above, looking as though they were materialising out of the ceiling, and were falling around the two. Vingo raised his weapon and Moe readied his tentacle arm, both ready for a fight.

Then, a loud roar emitted from the end of the block and a barrage of purple blasts flew at the group of creatures, hitting and killing some of them. The creatures charged down the block where a large shade turret was placed. Manning the turret was a major Elite, who saw the danger coming and immediately jumped out of the turret, whipped out an energy sword and swung it at one fo the creatures, cutting it in two and throwing the remains to the block floor.

"C'mon, we better get moving," Moe said to Vingo.

He went to run down the pathway but Vingo grabbed his arm. "Wait, we can't just leave the Elite!" he protested.

Moe rounded on him, filled with shock…and anger. "What!" he half-shouted.

"I said we can't just le-WATCH OUT!"

Moe half-shouting had attracted the attention of one of the two legged creatures and had charged over to the two and swung It's tentacle arm at them. The two dived to the walkway floor, narrowly missing the deadly swing by the creature, and Vingo fired a burst of ammo from his battle rifle at the creature, hitting it in the stomach and chest and throwing it backwards onto the floor, killing it. Then, before Moe could even assess what had happened, Vingo shot up from the floor and fired another burst of ammo at the back of another of the creatures, throwing it to the floor, killing it. Sighing in realisation that Vingo really wanted to help the Elite, who was supposed to be an enemy to them, Moe got up and ran forward to help.

The Elite swung It's energy sword at another of the creatures, slicing deep into it and throwing it over the side of the block to the floor far below. That was another one dead. Just a few more to g-

Suddenly, one of the creatures wrapped It's tentacle arm around the Elite's arm holding the energy sword. The Elite roared in surprise and went to take the energy sword using his other hand but the creature swung It's other arm at the Elite, hitting it and throwing it to the floor, It's armour shield now fizzing away as green volts of electricity and the energy sword no longer in his hands, making him defenceless.

The creature growled as it approached the downed Elite, raising It's tentacle arm to bring it down on It's enemy. The Elite turned his head frantically from side to side to find It's weapon, but even if it did find it's weapon, the creature would kill him before he even moved an inch to get it. The creature stopped in front of the Elite, making him look up at it. Even though Elites were rarely scared, this was enough to strike fear into the heart of this Elite like a dagger. He was doomed!

Suddenly, the creature was thrown forward by a sudden burst of ammo, landing next to him. The Elite went wide-eyed with shock. Who, or what, had just done that?

"Are you alright?"

The Elite looked down the block and saw a Human soldier (Vingo) standing there with a battle rifle. H-had he just saved him?

Quickly, the Elite got up, not taking his eyes off the Human as if he was expecting him to attack him.

"Here's your energy sword," Vingo said, holding up the Elite's energy sword activator.

The Elite looked at the activator in his hands as if it was something he had never seen before. What was this Human doing? Why was he helping him when their races were at war with each other?

Gingerly, the Elite stepped forward and held out his hand and took the activator from Vingo and activated it.

"Are you alright?" Vingo asked again.

"Is he with us?" came Moe's voice.

Vingo turned to look behind him, as did the Elite, to see Moe standing there. Instantly, the Elite activated his energy sword and went to charge towards him but Vingo grabbed his arm.

"No, no, no, no! Stop, stop! It's okay!" he exclaimed frantically.

The Elite stared at him as if to say: _"What?" _but Vingo seemed to sense what he was thinking.

"Don't worry," he said. "He's on our side. I don't know how he survived this infection, but…but I promise you he's with us,"

The Elite looked from Vingo to Moe and back again for several moments before he finally lowered his energy sword.

"What is going on here?" the Elite asked all of a sudden. "Why are you helping me?"

"Because we need your help," Vingo replied. "I take it you saw other UNSC soldiers pass through here a few moments ago," the Elite nodded. "Well," Vingo continued. "One of them wants to take this ship back to Earth, but if he does that then these creatures'll spread and wipe out everyone and everything. And I know for a fact they'll do the same to your people as well, so-"

"You want me to take you to the bridge," the Elite finished the sentence and Vingo nodded.

"That's right,"

The Elite 'hmmed' for a few seconds and looked from Vingo and Moe again. Was he to help them? They had saved him after all, and plus the Human he was with had just told him that both the Covenant and the Human race were at threat if this human leading this squad took control of this ship. What was he to do?

After a few moments, the Elite came to a decision.

"Follow me," he said. "I will take you there,"

Vingo smiled in relief. "Thanks," he said. "Oh, I'm Vingo by the way and that-" he pointed at Moe, who was looking further down the pathway towards where Gofer and his squad had run to. "-is Moe,"

The Elite nodded. "Kasen is my name. Now, let us continue and save our worlds."

The Elite ran down the block to the walkway at the end; Vingo and Moe followed. When they reached the end, they turned right and ran down the walkway to the end and around the turning on the wall to where another open doorway, with the remains of the door that had once been covering it scattered on the floor in front of it along with several dead creatures and Covenant Grunts, led into another corridor where the faint sounds of a battle were emanating from.

"Ready yourselves," Kasen said to Moe and Vingo. "We shall be in for a struggle,"

The three ran towards the doorway, the sounds of the battle growing louder with every step. When they reached the doorway and looked down the corridor, which had purple walls, silver floor and ceiling and was about thirty feet long and led to another of the circle shaped rooms, with pillars, though some were destroyed, and another large pipe-like section going down the middle of the room, at the end to see more dead Covenant, most of them Jackals and Grunts with several more dead creatures.

Kasen and Vingo raised their weapons and walked down the corridor, their vigilance levels at their height. Moe followed them but he was beginning to lag behind and even started limping a little. 

"I wonder what these creatures are," Kasen said as they stepped over the bodies of the fallen. "What they were doing on the Sacred Ring and why they seem to have no allegiance to neither your or my kind,"

"I know It's strange," Vingo replied. "What do you think, Moe?" No answer. "Moe?"

Vingo looked over his shoulder to see his friend leaning against the wall with his now growth covered hand on his still part Human arm holding his side, a look of pain on his face. Vingo ran down the corridor to him. Kasen turned and also ran over.

"Are you alright?" Vingo asked Moe worryingly.

Moe shook his head. "No," he replied. "It's overwhelming me quickly!" he gasped.

"Is your comrade becoming one of them?" Kasen asked Vingo, who nodded.

"We need to find you some medical attention before we go any further," he said.

"No!" Moe hissed at him. "I'm not giving up!"

He pushed past Vingo and Kasen and began to walk/limp down the corridor towards the end, having to use his growth covered legs to move the bodies out of his way. Kasen and Vingo followed him. He muttered: "I'm not giving up! I'm not giving up!" over and over again as he went. Kasen and Vingo looked at each other with concern, maybe even worry, at least from Vingo, but it was unknown whether Kasen felt the same way.

"AAAAHH!"

Moe suddenly fell over, landing face first on the floor. Kasen and Vingo ran over and lifted his growth covered mutated body up to reveal a bloodied face. He had broken his nose when he had fallen over, having been too weak to hold out his arms to stop his fall, but before Vingo could even speak; Moe shook them off and carried on down to the small circle shaped end of the corridor and turned left into the next one, Vingo and Kasen following close behind. 

When the three reached the next corridor, which was about sixty feet long, had three locked doors along It's walls and had large chunks of It's purple walls broken off and scattered across the floor, which was covered in scorch marks and more dead bodies of fallen Covenant and creatures, they saw a figure at the other end run right into the next corridor. It was a Human marine. They were getting closer to Gofer and his squad!

"C'mon, let's get 'em!" Moe grunted as he went to move down the corridor but Kasen grabbed him by the arm and stopped him. "What are you doing?" Moe demanded furiously.

"I know a faster way to the bridge," Kasen replied. "Follow me,"

The Elite ran down the corridor, stopping about half-way down it in front of one of the doors on the left wall. Moe and Vingo, who was holding his arm and helping him along a little, followed him. When they reached Kasen, he stretched out one of his long bony figures and touched the wall several times. A pause followed. Moe and Vingo looked at each other. What the Hell did he do that for?

The answer became clear a few seconds later when the door suddenly beeped loudly, making Moe and Vingo jump a little, and opened, revealing a smaller dimly lit corridor that led to a dead end. A small control panel was just about visible on the right wall near the end wall.

"Why are we in here?" Moe asked, gasping a little.

Kasen was about to reply when a loud spine shilling and shuddering roar emitted from behind. The three looked down the corridor. It was empty, but that roar belonged to those creatures, and judging by the sound of it, another swarm of them was not far away.

"Quickly, we must move!" Kasen ordered.

The Elite ran down the corridor to the end. Vingo and Moe, who was beginning to limp a little more now, followed him. The door closed behind them, almost sealing them in complete darkness for a brief moment before the lights, which seemed to be built into the ceiling, lit up a little more, lighting the way for the three to the end of the corridor.

"Okay, now what?" Vingo asked.

"I shall show you," Kasen replied. "One of you stand at the end of the corridor,"

Moe and Vingo looked at each other. What was he going to do? They looked back at Kasen questionably.

"Trust me," he told them when he saw them looking at him in that way. "I promise you, this is the way to the bridge,"

Vingo sighed. "Alright, I'll go," he said.

"Vingo, no," Moe piped up, grabbing his arm with his now almost completely mutated arm. "I'll go,"

"No," Vingo replied, pushing Moe's arm off him. "Look, your too weak and you need to save your energy. Plus, you could be the only one to stop Gofer. No, Moe!"

Vingo turned away from him and walked down to the end of the corridor and turned so he was facing his two comrades. He nodded at Kasen, who also replied with a nod and went to press a button on the control panel.

BOOM! The three jumped in surprise and looked down to the door at the other end of the corridor to see a huge dent in it. A pause. BOOM! Another dent appeared above that one.

"Hurry!" Vingo exclaimed.

Kasen put his mind back on what they were doing and pressed the button on the control panel he had gone to press just a few moments earlier. At once, a large circular hole appeared in the ceiling above Vingo, revealing a dark tunnel that seemed to continue forever. Then, as if grabbed by some invisible hands, Vingo began to hover up from the floor and then, like a bullet, he shot up into the tunnel and disappeared from sight.

"What the?" Moe exclaimed. BOOM! Another pound on the door, but he ignored it. "Where did he go?" he asked Kasen.

"To a corridor that leads to the bridge," Kasen replied. "You go next,"

Moe looked at the hole and back at Kasen, filled with uncertainty. Was this Elite telling the truth? Even though he had helped them get this far, that did not mean he would not suddenly turn on them.

"Look, trust me!" Kasen told Moe desperately as another BANG emanated from the door. "I promise you, your comrade is safe and-"

SMASH! Another loud bang on the door tore open a large hole in the metal door. The two looked down at the door, filled with terror, as the tentacle arm came through the hole and began waving around violently as if trying to grab something it could not see.

Deciding it was best to listen to Kasen, despite his suspicion, Moe limped over to the hole and turned to face the door. Kasen pressed the button on the control panel. Moe hovered into the air, as if he had been grabbed by a pair of invisible hands, for a moment before he suddenly shot up into the tunnel and was surrounded by darkness. Looking down, he saw only the floor of the corridor. Then, to his horror, the sound of a loud CRASH reverberated up the tunnel from the tunnel, followed by the sound of energy sword being activated. Those two sounds meant only one thing.

Those creatures were in the corridor with Kasen!

Suddenly, light flooded in from above and Moe looked up just in time to see himself shoot up out of the tunnel and gently float down onto the floor of another long corridor that had several doors along both walls and, at the right end, was joined onto another corridor.

"Oh good you're okay," came Vingo's voice from behind, making him jump.

Moe turned to see his friend standing there. Vingo looked down at the tunnel door as it closed and became part of the floor once more.

"Where's Kasen?" he asked Moe, looking up at him. 

Moe paused for a moment before he sighed. "Those creatures got to him!" he replied. "He didn't make it!"

Vingo sighed and nodded. "Right," he said. After a moment, he looked over at one of the doors on the wall behind them. "Okay, we're just outside the bridge. Let's get in there and find a way to shut down this sh-"

"Kill them!" a voice shouted from the right end of the corridor behind the right turning that joined onto the longer corridor, drawing Vingo and Moe's gazes.

A wave of blasts flew out from behind the right wall left, disappearing behind the left wall, followed by loud roars and shouting and gunfire. Human gunfire! They had pretty much reached the bridge just a few moments in front of Gofer.

Then, a marine fell to the floor from behind the right wall, dead and in full view of the two. Another four marines ran out from behind the right wall, firing back down the way they had come, causing several loud screeches to erupt from that direction. Among them was an instantly recognizable face. Gofer!

Gofer reloaded another clip into his pistol and fired a hot right down the corridor. As he turned right to look for a door that might lead them onto the bridge, he saw two figures standing down the next corridor, and he was not all pleased when he recognized them.

"Vingo!" he shouted angrily. "What are you doing with h-AAAAHHHHH!"

Suddenly, a wave of two legged creatures, both tall and small, charged into the squad, swinging their tentacle arms into the marines, who fought desperately to throw back the creatures, but failed. Seizing the chance, Moe and Vingo ran down the corridor towards one of the doors and the left wall of the corridor. It beeped loudly and opened for them as they approached it and they ran through the open doorway.

They were stunned to see that the bridge of the ship, or what had been the bridge, was in complete ruins. There was an enormous hole just a few feet to their right with the remains of a turret of some kind next to it, the walls were covered in scorch marks and had several chunks missing, the pillars around the edge of the platform, that was about fifteen feet above the floor and being held up by a walkway coming up from the floor, were either broken or had electrical sparks coming out of them and there were many dead bodies of Covenant special ops soldiers scattered across the floor along with many bodies of the creatures. A battle had taken place here, but for it to cause this much devastation just showed how determined both sides were to gain control with this ship, even if they had to tear much of it apart to get it.

Shaking the scenes around them out of their minds, Vingo and Moe ran, Moe limping/running, over to the bottom of the walkway floor and ran up it onto the platform. When they reached it, they were shocked to see a huge green thing that was shaped like a Human brain on the edge of the platform with large green pipe-like things sticking out of it and attaching themselves to the walls. It was shocking, and sickening to see something like that.

"What the Hell is that thing?" Vingo asked.

"No idea," Moe replied, only to suddenly feel dizzy and he stumbled over to one of the pillars and leaned against it.

"Are you okay?" Vingo asked him.

Moe nodded a little, but the pain of look on his face obviously told Vingo the opposite answer. He was not, but before he could protest Moe forced himself to stand wand walked over to the pillar that was in the middle of the back of the platform.

"So how do we disable this ship?" Vingo asked, looking from one pillar to the other.

"If we can…try and get the en-engines to overheat," Moe explained, struggling to talk a little through weakness but he still forced himself on. "Then…then we can…destroy the ship,"

"How much time will we have to escape?" Vingo asked as he looked over one of the holographic control panels on one of the still working pillars.

Moe breathed in deeply, preparing for Vingo's reaction to what he was about to tell him. There was something he had not mentioned and there was a chance that Vingo would take it the wrong way.

"About one minute!" Moe told him. "At t-"

"Whoa! Whoa, wait a minute!" Vingo interrupted him. He marched over and turned Moe to face him. "You never said anything about blowing up this ship _and _tasking us with it,"

"We don't have a chance to escape in time!" Moe told him. "I don't want to be blown up either, but It's the only to stop Gofer from getting this ship back to Earth!"

"You could have at least told me that we were going to have to sacrifice ourselves!" Vingo cried. "I knew that you would be willing to give up your life to stop Gofer, but It's not really fair that you included me!"

BOOM! Before Moe could reply, an explosion tore open a door on the left wall near the enormous hole in the floor. A Human ran through the doorway with a pistol in his hand and was firing down the corridor he had come out of. It was Gofer. A few shouts echoed from there, obviously Human, but he did not make any attempt to run down there and help.

Then, as he almost fell down the hole and his body reaction made him look behind him, he saw them on the platform.

"Vingo!" he exclaimed, straightening up and running to the end of the walkway that led up to the platform. "What are you doing? Why is he out of his cryo-tube?" he demanded furiously.

"I'm going to destroy the ship!" Moe told Gofer. "It'll stop you from dooming Earth,"

Gofer went wide-eyed. What! He was going to destroy this ship! No! No, he was not going to let him! This ship was their salvation and their chance of victory against the Covenant, and he was going to destroy it!

_Over my dead body! _Gofer thought as his look changed from shock to a glare and he marched up the walkway to the platform to face Moe.

"You are not going to destroy this ship!" he hissed angrily. "And I am going to make sure of it!"

Suddenly, he lunged at Moe, grabbing him around the throat and swung his pistol at Moe's head. Moe cried out in pain as blood trickled from a wound on his forehead and he tried to strike back but he was too weak. Gofer laughed a little.

"You're our chance of victory, yet your just so weak to fight," he said.

Moe struggled to even lift his arm. His plan was failing! His hope of stopping Gofer was almost gone. His hope of saving Earth and the Human race was gone. If he did not do something, he would never get them back and all of this would be for nothing!

"V-Vingo!" Moe gasped. "H-h-help!"

Vingo looked at him, filled with shock, then at Gofer in the same way. What was he to do? He was not happy that Moe had suddenly involved him in having to sacrifice his life to destroy the ship, but Moe was right though. If Gofer took this ship back to Earth with these creatures on board, them they could spread and kill everyone on Earth and virtually wipe out what was left of Humanity. So what was he to do?

He finally made up his decision. He turned and ran over to one of the holographic symbols and pressed a small holographic button that turned into a holographic screen of the _Truth and Reconciliation_. He then touched the engines, which lit up a red colour when his finger touched them, and the screen turned into a blueprint of the engines. Below was a symbol of a skull.

"What are you doing?" Gofer demanded when he saw what Vingo was doing.

Vingo looked over his shoulder at him. "Saving Humanity," he replied and he pressed down the symbol.

"NOOOOOO!" Gofer yelled.

He shot up from Moe's pinned down body and charged at Vingo, throwing him into the pillar, and he then threw him to the floor. He raised his pistol and brought it down on Vingo's back. Vingo cried out. It felt like someone had just struck him with a sledgehammer. It hurt like Hell. Then as he looked up, he saw Gofer with his battle rifle in his hand and was raising that to bring it down onto Vingo. Vingo's eyes went wide. He was too weak to stop him! He was doomed!

Moe, groggily, looked over at Gofer and saw the scene in front of him. No! he could not leave Vingo to be killed by Gofer! He had to help him, even if he had to use up the last of his strength.

Gofer laughed as he looked down into Vingo's terror and weak filled eyes with his overpowering and strong eyes.

"You should have obeyed orders, Vingo," he said. "You could have been a hero to Humanity,"

"I…already am," Vingo replied weakly. "The engines…are gone… The ship is going to explode." Gofer's eyes went wide but were quickly replaced with an angry glare and Vingo smiled when he saw this. "You've lost,"

Gofer gritted his teeth in anger and brought down the battle rifle with all his strength. Vingo closed his eyes and waited for the blow to come onto him that would finish him off.

It never came. All that he heard was a loud grunt and the sounds of a struggle.

Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Moe _standing upright_, though he could see a painful expression on his face, with his tentacle arms wrapped around Gofer's head and chest and was holding him there tightly. Gofer struggled violently to break free but Moe's tentacle arms were like steel ropes.

Then, with all his might, Moe, with an almighty yell, swung Gofer through the air, directly towards the enormous brain-like thing. Gofer screamed as he neared it but before he could stop himself, he slammed into the side of it, and _stuck_ to it. He tried to wrench himself off it with all his strength but it was no use. It was like he had been stuck to this thing was some kind of ultra-strength superglue.

"ARRGH!" Gofer yelled as he tried to wrench himself off the brain-like thing. "LET ME GO! LET ME GO!"

Then, like a spider attracted to something caught n It's web, tentacles pushed their way out of the thing and wrapped themselves around Gofer, and began pulling him in into it as if it was quicksand. He screamed in terror and struggled more violently than ever but within a few moments, his legs, then body, then his arms and finally his head, which gave one last look of terror at Moe and Vingo, was pulled into the brain-like thing and his screaming stopped abruptly. 

Moe, exhausted by what he had just done, gave a relieved sigh and collapsed to the floor. Vingo, who had managed to attain the strength to stand up again, half walked/half limped over to him and, wincing in pain, knelt down beside him.

"V-Vingo," Moe gasped. "Y-you did it!"

"I wouldn't have if it wasn't for you," he replied.

Moe smiled and coughed loudly and began to breathe heavily. His strength was failing. His body was coming to the end of It's time as a Human and was soon to begin in It's new form as one of the creatures.

**Two hundred feet below the bridge**

In a large chamber-like room, that was about one hundred metres across and half as wide, was a large cylinder shaped power core, the engine reactor, with ten smaller cylindrical tubes coming out of it and going into the wall that was nearest the engines. A white aura was flowing in each of the tubes and there was a faint aura floating around it. Many walkways went all around the object from one side to the other and there were several doors along the walls that led into corridor or small rooms that were built to maintain temperature and power over the power core and make sure it did not overheat.

The fighting, however, had changed that. Luckily, it had rarely affected this part of the ship, just a small skirmish between a special ops Elite and a squad of special ops Grunts and several creatures about half an hour ago, so there was pretty much no damage to the chamber. No change in the chamber at all. It was all the same as it had been since the ship was built.

In one of the rooms, that was to maintain the power and temperature of the power core and one of the tubes that led to the engines, however, a red light was blinking madly on one of the control panels. A holographic screen of the power core appeared next to it with a small bar next to it. Inside the bar, the level was rising rapidly and changing colour from green to yellow when it was in the middle of the bar and then from yellow to red when it was near the top of the bar. The temperature was rising rapidly. Vingo had disabled all the cooling mechanisms that would cool down the power core when it got too hot so, with nothing left to cool the machine down, it was a ticking time bomb, and with the rate the heat inside the machine was increasing, there was only about a minute, at best, left.

**In the bridge**

Moe struggled to breath. His vision was fading and now he did not even have the strength to lift up his head, so it was resting on the floor of the platform. Vingo knelt down beside his comrade and took his hand in his and clutched it tightly. Moe looked at him and smiled.

"V-Vingo," he said.

"What?" Vingo asked. "What is it?"

Moe tried to talk but his breath got caught in his throat and he felt like his windpipe was collapsing, but he was not giving up easily. If he could not talk what he wanted to say to Vingo, then he could mouth it.

Looking into his comrade's eyes, he, struggling, mouthed two words.

_T-thank –y-you_

Vingo smiled and nodded and closed his eyes and waited for death to come and take him.

Suddenly, there was an enormous explosion that made the bridge rumble violently and a second later, the floor exploded upwards in a pillar of fire, taking the bridge and whatever was in it with it.

**Outside the **_**Truth and Reconciliation**_

In the dark night skies, thousands of stars shone brightly above the ring word of Halo. It was a beautiful scene, but below above the canyon area of the ring world, the battle raging on the Covenant ship was destroying this beautiful scene with the death and destruction.

The ship looked like it had been in an asteroid field. There were many large chunks of it missing and fires were raging up and down it. A huge cloud of smoke hung in the air above the ship, blending into the darkness so much that it was only revealed by the occasional light from an explosion on or below the ship or when a large enough stray blast flew up into the air.

Then, all of a sudden, the middle of the ship was broken apart in a gigantic explosion that threw huge chunks of the ship and even parts of the canyon rocks nearest the explosion, through the air. The ship, now broken in two, fell to the ground and exploded when it hit it, filling the air with a gold glow almost akin to that of the sun.

The _Truth and Reconciliation _was destroyed. Humanity, and possibly even the entire galaxy, was safe.

Watching all of this from a seraph fighter flying away from the craft was an Elite. It was Kasen, who had managed to fight off the creatures and escape to another hanger and pilot the last remaining seraph fighter and fly out of the ship just a few minutes ago. He put the fighter on autopilot and stood up and turned to watch as the enormous burning remains of the ships' hulk and engines and such rained down on the canyons. He smiled and gave a salute to the burning remains.

The sacrifice of the two Humans he had met had not been in vain and as he sat down, he knew very well the Covenant and Humanity, despite their hatred for each other, had worked together to defeat this menace, and it had saved both of their races along with entire galaxy from falling to them.


	37. Debbie and Hans' story: Prologue

**Date: July 15****th****, 2551**

**Location: Vico Island, Tethys sea, Eucia II**

Vico island was like most of the islands on Eucia II. It was large with mountains and forests dominating the land on the island. There were several small towns and villages scattered across it but nothing more for if this island was to become the home for a large sprawling settlement, it would spoil the natural beauty and scenery created when this world was terra-formed for Human colonization.

However, now it was a small UNSC outpost for the wounded and for evacuating civilians from the island to the mainland continent. A rush of activity covered the island. Pelicans were flying to and from the island, either empty or carrying wounded and civilians. The UNSC High Command was desperate to evacuate as many wounded and civilians as possible from here to safety.

The reason for all this rushing around and panic: the Covenant. They were the worst enemy Humanity had so far come across. Having made contact with Humanity earlier on this year, they were not friendly and had been waging a war of attrition against the Human race. They had devastated many colonized planets in the Niobe Aino system, killing billions of civilians and military personal. So far they were raging a bloody battle for Eucia II, which was certainly going to fall, which became even more possible when It's sister planet, Eucia, had been glassed by the Covenant, in order to attack Takra, the so called 'New Earth' of the Niobe Aino system and It's most populated planet. The UNSC had fought desperately to stem the Covenant advance but it was just no use. Their superior technology and numbers, as there were seven alien races (known as Grunts, Elites, Jackals, Hunters, Drones, Brutes and Prophets) united against them, proved to be the advantage in this war. All the Human race could do was hope to evacuate as many to Takra and, hopefully, make a stand there, though they highly certain that Takra, even if the UNSC did make a stand there, would be devastated by the fighting, but it was a chance and a risk the UNSC was going to have to take.

Outside one of the tents in one of the many outposts scattered across the island, a woman of about twenty one with black hair, green eyes and dressed in a nurse's uniform was sitting on a hover chair next to a UNSC ODST soldier who had blonde hair with blue eyes and was heavily built and was sitting on a crate. Across the young woman's sleeve was the name 'Debbie'. Across the chest of the ODST soldier's uniform was the name 'Hans'.

"There we go," Debbie said as she injected a morphine serum into Hans' arm just a few inches above a small scorch mark on his arm. He winced slightly when she injected but the pain quickly faded away as the serum began to work against the wound.

"Thanks," Hans replied as he rubbed his arm.

Debbie set the needle down on the arm rest of the seat and a small hole opened below it and the needle descended gently into the hole and the hole closed again. She then leaned forward and placed a hand on the scorch mark on his arm.

"That serum should fix it and make the mark go down a little," she said. "Was it a blast wound did you say?" she asked him.

"Yeah from a plasma rifle," he replied.

Debbie nodded at what he had told her and sat up straight. It was then her eyes rested on a marine sitting in a tree not far away, looking at a tent not far behind him. It was Matthew, a friend of hers. Hans noticed she was looking at something past him and looked over his shoulder to see Matthew sitting in the tree as well.

"What's he doing up there?" he asked.

"I think he's been put up there to search for any approaching Covenant," Debbie answered.

"Then why's he climbing down the tree?"

He was right. Matthew climbed down the tree and ran from the tree towards one of the large tents set up for dead marines and civilians to be stored in cryo-tubes. When he reached the entrance of it, he paused and looked around to make sure no one was watching and then moved the flap and walked inside.

"Wonder what he's doing?" Debbie asked.

Hand nodded in agreement and looked around the rest of the camp. Another pelican had just landed and the medics and fellow soldiers, with several civilians helping, were loading on the wounded marines. A few other marines were sitting on other trees scattered not far from the camp, also searching the sky for any sign of approaching Covenant. There was nothing in the blue skies yet but there had been reports of Covenant forces heading across the Tethys sea towards the continent on the other side, and Vico island was directly in their path so anyone watching the skies had to keep their eyes open and give the warning at the first sight of any approaching Covenant ships.

Hans felt movement on his wounded arm and he looked down to see Debbie wrapping a bandage around it. after a few moments, she tied it tight and leant back to see it.

"Give it a week or so and it should heal completely," she said.

Hans nodded and touched the bandage. A tiny fragment of pain erupted and he winced a little and moved his hand away.

_Best not do that again _he thought.

_"__All forces and civilians are to evacuate the island immediately. Covenant forces are approaching! I repeat, Covenant are approaching Vico!"_ a nearby intercom blared out.

Instantly, there was a rush towards the pelicans. Marines that had been operating radios ran over, most deciding to leave their equipment where it was, civilians that were waiting for pelicans decided not to bother waiting any longer and ran over towards them. Even a few medics were heading towards the ships in a bid to save themselves.

Hans sighed and looked at Debbie. "We better be off," he said.

Debbie nodded in agreement and the two got up and joined the rush over to the pelicans.


	38. The fall of peace

**Five months later**

**Date: January 1****st****, 2552**

**Location: Rodum city, Takra**

**Time: 19:51pm**

Rodum, the largest city ever built on Takra and one of the greatest cities ever built by man. It's size was twice that of the Rhode Island state in America on Earth and It's population was over 20 million. Built around a large lake with an island in the middle, it was a bustling economic, scientific, political and cultural centre of Takra and the Niobe Aino system filled with museums, observatories, parks, space centres, transport centres and some of the best hospitals with some of the most advanced medical equipment.

However, despite this city being so great and with an enormous population, it was living under a cloud of fear that was sure to break on them soon. This cloud was the threat of the Covenant attacking the city. They had already been laying siege to Takra for several months and had fought the UNSC across every inch of the planet, killing millions of UNSC personal and civilians. Most people, however, believed that if Rodum was to be attacked, which was most likely to happen, it would hold out, but they just did not know when the Covenant would attack the city. It could be next month, next week, or even tomorrow or maybe even tonight, they just did not know. Everyone was scared and the UNSC High Command was worried because Rodum's population was usually only around 19 to 20 million, but the loss of many cities around the planet and the flood of refugees from other worlds such as Eucia I, Eucia II and Lupo had swelled it to about 26 to 28 million, it may not sound like much of an increase but it stretched the already thin resources the UNSC had to defend the city even further and it meant more people would have to be evacuated quickly before the Covenant laid siege to Rodum.

On one of the many skyscrapers that seemed to tower over the cityscape, on a floor that had a small window ledge, two people were sitting, looking out over the city. It was Debbie and Hans, who had been lucky enough to escape Eucia II to Takra. They both looked exhausted and older than they actually were, but they were not tired, they could not be anyway. With the threat of an imminent Covenant attack on the city looming over them, no one could sleep and were always either talking or wondering how much longer the city would escape the fighting that was growing ever closer with every passing day. One day, one week, or a few hours?

Hans lifted up the sleeve of his arm and looked at the scar of the blast wound he had there. It had healed much over the past few months but he would have that scar forever.

"How is it?" Debbie asked him, not taking her eyes off the cityscape in front of her.

"It's fine," Hans replied, lowering his sleeve and looking back out across the cityscape.

Despite the threat of the Covenant attack on the city looming over them, the two were entranced by the peaceful look of the night sky filled with trillions of stars. What really drew their attention was Takra's moon Descendus, which shone brightly in the night sky almost like Earth's moon, Lunar. Descendus had been lucky. When Eucia II had fallen, the UNSC were worried that the Covenant would glass the planet, which they feared would have an effect on Takra. So, deciding it was the best thing to do, they called for an early evacuation of Descendus and every base and settlement, which were mostly on villages, were destroyed to prevent anything knowledgeable to Humanity from falling into the hands of the Covenant. It had been a hard move as there were many refugees there and several UNSC warships had to be sent to aid in the evacuation of the planet, but it had saved several hundred millions lives and strengthened the UNSC presence on Takra. Not by much, but right now every man available to fight was needed.

"Do you think Takra can be saved?" Hans asked Debbie, with shook her head.

"No," she replied. "If there's one thing we haven't learned properly about the Covenant is that once they get their sights set on a planet, they don't leave until it's destroyed,"

Hans sighed. She was right. The Covenant were showing no sign of leaving Takra despite being tied down here for several months, which was a lot longer than the other short and quick battles they had fought on other colonized planets. Rubbing his hand across his eyes and pressing his thumb and index finger on his nose for a moment before looking back up at the cityscape of Rodum, he knew that every night could be the city's last night of being safe. Tonight might even be their last night alive. For all they knew, the Covenant might launch an attack tomorrow.

A distant but loud boom drew their attention to their left and the two got up and ran to the left end of the window ledge to see a large object fly into the sky. It was too dark to make it out, but they could easily see the engines on the back of the ship. It had come from the direction of the island in the middle of the lake. It was an evacuation transport, the twentieth to leave today. At least 200 of these ships, each one carrying 2000 passengers, both civilians and UNSC personal, most of who were wounded, had left the city over the past three weeks since evacuation procedures had begun. A total of 4 million had escaped so far. A good start, but there was still over 20 million more civilians to evacuate and plus there were several hundred thousand wounded marines to be evacuated to safety.

"How long do you think we have left?" Debbie asked.

"A few days, at the most," Hans replied, looking at her.

Something in his mind began nagging away at him, something he had felt before but had ignored it, but with doom looming over them, he just felt he could no longer ignore this nagging feeling.

"Um…Debbie?" he asked and she turned her head to face him.

"Yes?"

"I…I," he began, finding it more difficult to say what he wanted to tell her than he thought it would be. "I…have something to tell you," he said. "I…-"

Suddenly, the rest of his words were drowned out by an ear splitting wail that seemed to erupt from everywhere across the city. Debbie and Hans looked around them as if they were trying to find the source of the noise. Then, the wail began to fall in sound, but when it came to the point of almost going quiet again, it rose into another wail before falling again. Hans and Debbie looked at each other with terror in their eyes.

That wail was a siren, and it only meant one thing: The Covenant was here.

"Guys!" a voice exclaimed from behind them. Debbie and Hans turned to see a tall young looking marine standing in the doorway of the building that led onto the window ledge. "C'mon, we have to go!"

The marine turned and ran back into the building. Hans ran after him immediately. Debbie paused and looked behind her at the cityscape and then up at Descendus as if the moon were a God looking down on the city for one last time on a peaceful before it was to meet It's destruction.

Sighing in hopelessness, Debbie ran into the building after Hans and the marine. Behind her, the noise of the siren continued to fill the night sky, signalling the coming doom that would soon engulf Rodum and everyone in it in terror and war.


	39. Fall of Rodum

**Fifteen days later**

**Date: January 16****th**

**Location: Rodum docks, Rodum, Takra. **

For Rodum, it was well and truly the end. The once sun dominated sky was now covered with an ever stretching blackness caused by the smoke emanating from the hundreds of burning skyscrapers around the city. The air, which would have been cold as it was coming to the middle of winter, was warm with heat and smoke from the fires raging from the fighting. Every district in the city was burning and almost every building in each district was burning, spewing more smoke that would continue to make the thick black cloud of smoke above the great metropolis grow larger and further It's conquest of the sky.

In the streets of the city, mostly near the docks, battles were raging everywhere between the Covenant and the UNSC. From the streets to alleyways to subways and even from as far as on floors directly above or below fires in buildings. Apparently there were even a few battles raging in the sewers below the streets. Despite all this, neither side was willing to back down, especially the UNSC for the units here were trying to bide enough time for the remaining civilians and wounded marines on the island in the middle of the lake to escape on transports.

In a long street that went through an apartment district of the city, just a few hundred feet from the city's docks, a small blockade of UNSC warthogs had been set up. There were three of them, a machine gun warthog in the middle of the street and two passenger warthogs on the ends of the street. The middle warthog was listing to the left slightly as it was on the edge of a crater caused by a tank shell from when a scorpion tank had been through here a few days earlier. The street was littered with destroyed civilian vehicles with the occasional destroyed UNSC or Covenant vehicle. Most were burning hulks, but some had been crushed by falling rubble or half or almost completely squashed from when other vehicles had driven over them. Smoke poured out of the buildings, blocking visibility from over twenty feet up. A real warzone.

"C'mon! We gotta hold 'em off!"

Behind the warthogs were a group of six marines with another marine manning the warthog turret. They were firing down the street at a large squad of Covenant, comprising of three Elites, one of them being a major, twenty Grunts and sixteen Jackals, hiding behind the remains of the destroyed vehicles. A few dead marines and Covenant were scattered up and down the street. The remains of another warthog were just visible behind the Covenant where another blockade had been set up but the marines had been driven back as the Covenant had stepped up their assault.

Among the marines behind the blockade of warthogs was Hans. He looked even more exhausted than he did before. His uniform was covered in dust and stained with blood in several places and his hair was a mess. The last fifteen days had been Hell for him. He had been fighting almost non-stop and had seen some of his best friends, along with many civilian, die, having been slaughtered mercilessly by the Covenant. Today, he believed, was to be the last day that Rodum would be able to hold out as most of the city was in ruins and the Covenant had almost reached the docks, in some places they had reached the docks but were being hammered by UNJSC counterattacks and bombardment from the island and the air. Luckily, though, most of the civilians and wounded, mainly those they UNSC had been able to get to, had been evacuated or were in the process of being evacuated. Soon, and hopefully, Hans and the men here would be evacuated. Hans especially wanted to get away from here…because of Debbie.

A blast struck the windscreen mirror next to Hans' head and he rose up and fired a burst of ammo from his battle rifle down the street at the Covenant. A high-pitched yell erupted from there. He had killed a Grunt, but it would not be enough to turn back the tide of Covenant. Another marine further left down the barricade rose up and fired a few bullets from his MA5B assault rifle down the street. Suddenly, as he went to duck down, a blast struck him in the face and the marine fell backwards onto the ground and moved no more.

"MICHAEL!" the marine next to him yelled in panic, crouching down next to his friend. He grabbed the body and placed two fingers on the dead marine's neck.

"No!" the marine shouted. He shot to his feet and began firing a barrage of bullets down the street. "I'll kill you alien bastards!" Another wave of blasts shot past him, one narrowly missing his head. Hans, remaining crouched, ran down the barricade and grabbed the marine and pulled him down, almost making him fall to the ground.

"What the Hell are you doing?" the marine hissed at Hans, grabbing a fistful of his uniform.

"Stopping you from getting killed!" Hans hissed back. 

"WATCH OUT! GRENADE!"

BOOM! A light blue explosion lit up the air and Hans and the marine were thrown to the ground. A loud crashing noise and a scream filled the air before both abruptly went silent. Groaning, Hans lifted himself up to see the middle warthog, which was the machine gun warthog with a marine manning the turret, turned on It's side. The marine that had been manning the turret was lying on the ground, dead.

"Damn it!" another marine, a sergeant, shouted. "Alright, fall back! Everyone fall back!"

Hans picked himself up and grabbed his weapon and ran down the street. The sergeant and remaining marines ran with him. Blasts shot past them, some missing them by miles but others only just coming within inches or even millimetres of them. Another scream erupted from behind and Hans looked over his shoulder to see another marine fall to the ground. A thought struck his mind, telling him to go and help the marine, who was screaming in pain from where the blast had struck him on the back. However, movement from further down the street behind him saw the Covenant squad giving chase, firing at them as they ran after the marines, and he decided, through regrettably, that he had no choice but to leave him. A small tear appeared at the corner of his eye but he thought, as he turned left into the next street, that was a side street, with the squad, that he probably would have been killed as well if he had tried to help him. Not that he valued his life above everyone else's, but he just did not want to die and he had something important to tell Debbie.

Jumping over craters and weaving around vehicle remains, the squad ran towards the end of the street where a main road, that ran along next to a small seawall, was situated. Smoke poured out of the windows and blown open holes and doors along the buildings of the street and rubble was scattered in piles along the pavement and roads. A few dead civilians and Covenant were scattered along here. There were not any signs of the civilians having any weapons on them so Hans just presumed that another squad of marines must have come through here and killed these Covenant, whether they were here just by chance or for revenge in killing the civilians he did not know.

"Do not let them escape!" a deep voice shouted from behind and the squad members looked over their shoulders to see the major Elite with the rest of the Covenant squad at the end of the street they had just come through and they gave chase.

Hans ran faster down the street, quickly overtaking the other members of the squad. Several light blue and light green blasts flew past him. The Covenant squad must have sensed what he was doing and were determined not to let any of their enemies get away. A burst of ammo exploded behind him; followed by a loud screech, but Hans did not look back to see what had happened for in fear that he would get hit by a blast. He just ran on, hoping he would reach the end.

Finally, after only a few seconds but what seemed like forever, Hans tore around the corner and placed a hand against the remains of a stone wall, breathing heavily. A few more bursts of ammo erupted from the side street, followed by shouts and roars, and the sergeant and the marines emerged from the side street, firing away down it. A few blasts shot past them but, thankfully, all missed.

"Guys, look!" one of the marines exclaimed, pointing left down the road.

The squad moved out of the direction of the side street and looked where the marine was pointing to see a pelican hovering there. A few medics and marines were loading some wounded soldiers onto the craft. Hope filled the squad. That was their ticket out of here!

The sergeant fired another burst of ammo down the side street. "Alright, let's go!" he ordered and the squad ran towards the pelican. Hans looked up to see his squad members running towards the pelican and he rushed over to join them.

"Hey!" the sergeant yelled as the medics climbed on board. One of them turned to look at them.

"Hurry, get on!" he told them.

The squad, more than happy to, obeyed and climbed on board. Hans managed to reach the craft and climbed on board and the pelican flew away from the sea wall. Just in time as well as the Covenant squad emerged from the side street and began firing at the pelican. Some of the blasts flew into the resting area but only hit the walls or ceiling, one, though, did come close to hitting a wounded marine lying down on the left resting area's seats in the head, and after a few moments, the pelican was out of range.

Hans breathed a sigh of relief and slumped down onto an empty end seat along the right wall of the resting area and looked around the resting area. There were five wounded marines on the seats with about three medics. With the rest of his squad, including him, which numbered five, there were thirteen men in the restring area. Hans smirked a little at a joke he thought of.

_Not a lucky number _he mentally said to himself.

He then looked out through the resting area entrance, as did some of the other marines in his squad, to see the city of Rodum burning in front of him. Large shapes were flying over the burning city and, looking up; Hans saw they were Covenant CCS battle cruisers. One of them, a few miles away, fired a purple laser down on to a skyscraper, causing an explosion that lit up the sky like a fireball and the building collapsed. Hans sighed and looked around the resting area again. Amazingly, the others here had decided not to bother to even look. Not that they did not care, but after spending two weeks of watching that happen almost continuously, what would make one be any different from the others?

A few moments later, the pelican began to slow and Hans looked out through the resting area again to see the ground of the island in the middle of the lake about fifty feet below him. Scattered below him were several small camps with many civilians and marines running about the island. Around each campo, as well as around the perimeter of the island were many AA missile launchers, ready to shoot down any Covenant aircraft that came too close to the island.

The pelican finally came to an abrupt halt and descended towards the island's surface, the landing gear unfolding themselves as it neared the ground. A few moments later, the craft jolted as the landing gear touched down on the ground and the marines jumped down onto the ground. Some helped the medics unload the wounded but Hans ran off from the pelican as soon as he was off the craft. He had to find Debbie.

As he ran from the pelican, he looked around and saw that they had landed in the middle of the island, which he could tell by the large statue of the colony ship _Novus Initium _a few metres from him. Just a few weeks ago, this island had been a favourable picnic sight, but now it was nothing more than a refugee station.

Then, coming out from behind another parked pelican, he saw a large ship parked about three hundred feet away from him. It was a large oval-like shaped ship with two large rectangular ends sticking out of the back with the engines at the end. Along both sides were two large rectangular shaped holes, all four of them hangers. A large oval shaped section of the ship, about one tenth of the size of the ship, was placed on the top of a sixty foot tall tower coming out of the top of the middle of the ship. A few large cannons were placed along the sides of the ship but against a Covenant vessel, it would stand no chance, but it had speed as It's advantage so if it left quickly and hoped there were no Covenant ships in their path, then it would escape to safety with It's inhabitants. So far, many of these of these ships had escaped, especially during the last two weeks as the Covenant laid siege to the city, but there were still many more people to escape. That would only happen, though, if the UNSC in the city managed to hold out long enough.

Hans ran towards the ship, having to push his way through a crowd of civilians waiting to board the transport ship he had seen. When he reached the end of the crowd, he saw a few marines being loaded onto a pelican that was to head to the transport ship. Among them, he recognized a woman. It was Debbie. He wasted no time in running towards her.

Debbie grabbed a wounded marine's hand and placed another hand on his face. The marine was tall with short black hair and blue eyes. He had a wound on the side of his face and his side, which was only just visible, was wrapped in bandages from where he had been struck by blasts.

"Good luck, Marcus," she said.

The marine looked up at her and smiled. "You too, Debbie. St-stay safe!"

Debbie smiled and nodded. Two medics then came over and took the marine away and loaded him onto the pelican. Debbie tried to refrain from crying. Marcus was a good friend of her. They had known each other for about a year. Some people thought that they were in love but Marcus had told them and her that he was in love with someone else, someone from the ER. Debbie was a little disappointed when she heard this but she got over it eventually and she was happy for Marcus, though she was a little jealous of him being with that ER member.

A hand resting on her shoulder made her jump and she turned to see Hans standing there.

"Debbie!" he gasped, exhausted from running. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"Yeah," she replied. "I was wondering where you were,"

"Hey you two!" a voice barked at them and they looked over towards the pelican to see a sergeant standing next to the pelican Marcus had been loaded onto. He ran over to them. "What are you doing here?" he asked Debbie angrily.

"I was helping out with the wounded," she told him.

"Well get on board another pelican," the sergeant ordered. "You to," he pointed at Hans. "We need a spare able bodied man to help with the wounded."

The two nodded and the sergeant pointed at a nearby pelican about forty feet away. The two ran over to it and Hans climbed on board first and helped Debbie on. There were about four other marines with about three women civilians on board the craft. The two sat down on the resting area seats and looked out through the resting area to see everyone rushing about on the island, desperately trying to escape whilst they still had the chance.

Debbie sighed and rested her head on Hans' shoulder. "It's over," she said. "We've lost,"

Hans could not help but agree with her. Looking out at the city and watching the last few buildings along the docklands burn, he knew that Rodum, along with many thousands of marines and civilians within the city that had not escaped intime, was lost, and with it, Takra, the very planet that had held out for so long against the Covenant.

The pelican jolted slightly as it hovered into the air and Debbie lifted her head and watched with Hans as the island and the burning city seemed to move further away from them. It looked as though they were leaving their troubles of this world behind, but they knew that, eventually, they would catch up to them again, though how long it would be until that happened, they did not know. A year, a month, or a day? No one knew but it was obvious everyone was hoping that it would be in a long time.


	40. Escape from the Michigan

**Date: April 10****th**

**Location: Between Humanity's home system and Niobe Aino system. **

**Five hours after attack on Reach**

In the deep void of space between Humanity's home system and the colonized Niobe Aino system, a large ship flew in the direction of Earth. It was much like the _Axiom_, only slightly smaller and it had a large thick steel see through dome over the top of it which underneath the dome were several buildings comprising of a hospital, a barracks and a sensor array. At the front of the ship were three large silos, the ships' main cannons and along the sides of the ship were several large rectangular-like shaped holes, which were hangers. It was the _Michigan_. Along the sides of the ship were several large blast marks, the obvious signs that it had been in a battle.

The crew of the _Michigan _were wary and on high alert. The ship had just escaped from Reach which had come under a full scale Covenant assault. It had blown through a Covenant CCS battle cruiser in orbit and had only just escaped from the main Covenant fleet, for now at least. They did not know if they were being followed and they were not taking any chances. If they were, then they were not to return to the home system of Humanity or the Covenant would discover the location of Earth, Humanity's home world.

On board the craft, in one of the hangers, many marines and workers that had escaped the assault remained. Many of them were still shaken up by the sudden attack on Reach and the fact that the entire special taskforce that had been formed several days earlier had been on reach when the Covenant invaded the planet. For all they knew, they could all be dead, which they all probably were. It seemed that all hope for Humanity had been wiped out in this single act by the Covenant. There was no doubt that many of the marines here were already thinking about how long Humanity had left. A few weeks, a few months, or a few years? Any of the three, they would be defeated eventually. All Humanity could do know was hope that it would hold out, but whether they would or not would be up to fate.

In one of the pelicans parked in the hanger, which had many blast marks around it and had part of It's left wing missing from where a banshee ion blast had struck it as it made It's way to the _Michigan_, Debbie sat on one of the resting area seats with Hans next to her. She was resting her head on his shoulder and had dry tear marks down her face. Her eyes and cheeks were red and she was sniffing. Hans had a hand on her back and was patting it gently, trying to comfort her.

The attack on Reach had really affected her. Like the others here, it had shaken her up pretty bad, but what had made her this upset was that the two were in a small base outside the _Michigan _where a load of wounded were taking cover with workers as they tried to get onto the ship when a group of taskforce soldiers had arrived, among them was her old friend, Marcus. Seeing him had made her happy and he and Hans had met. However, both meetings were brief as the Covenant were laying siege to the base in an attempt to stop the ship and Marcus and the other taskforce soldiers who had survived that far decided to stay behind in order to protect the ship from a CCS battle cruiser that was headed towards the _Michigan_. However, what had really made Debbie like this was that he had told Hans, in front of Debbie, to promise him something and he agreed to. Debbie had protested but the pelican left before she could do anything, and now with reach gone, Debbie had burst into tears at thinking Marcus was dead, which he most likely was. Hans had tried to reassure her, but even he was thinking that Marcus was dead and even though he only knew him for a few minutes, it had affected him as well.

Debbie sniffed again and wiped away another tear from her eye. Hans placed a hand under her chin and lifted her head up a little.

"Are you okay now that you've had to time to pull yourself together?" he asked her.

"I wish I was," she replied tearfully and lowered her head again and rested it against his chest and sniffed again.

Hans sighed. He felt so sorry for her. He knew all about Debbie's friendship, and past possible relationship, with Marcus. She had been a close friend of him and now he was probably lying dead on Reach along with many other marines. He knew how she felt though. He had seen many of his friends be killed during the earlier battles of the war and when he was in Rodum just a few months earlier he had been forced to leave a comrade behind during their escape from the city and there was no doubt he had been killed. Doing that had affected him deeply but back then his life was also in danger as well back then and he did not want to die, but even so he just felt like it was his fault that he had not helped a fellow marine in his time of need.

_Survivor's guilt _he thought as he patted Debbie on the back.

_**Michigan**_** bridge**

The bridge of the Michigan was a large circular shaped room with a large doorway on the back wall leading out into a main corridor. Along the walls of the room were control panels. Above the control panels on the right half of the room were windows that gave a clear view of the ever stretching blackness in front of the ship with thousands and thousands of stars scattered around it, lighting it up.

Workers were scattered about working on the control panels. Standing behind an empty hover chair in front of a control panel and looking out into space was the ship's captain, Parker, forty year old with greying hair, brown eyes and a small scar over his lip from an accident he had been in when he was young. A sigh passed his lips. He could not believe what had unfolded on Reach near his ship when his ship was parked there.

_Those taskforce soldiers… _he thought. _Those men and women._

Suddenly, a small red light on a nearby control panel began blinking madly. The worker immediately noticed it and pressed a button next to the light. A holographic screen with an image of the ship appeared above the control panel and three large circles appeared at the left end of the screen and began moving towards the ship. Upon seeing this, the worker's eyes went wide.

"Sir!" he exclaimed, looking over at Captain Parker. "You need to come and see this!"

Captain Parker, along with several other workers, ran over to the worker's control panel.

"What is it?" Parker asked the worker.

The worker pointed at the red circles on the holographic screen and the captain and workers looked at them.

"Identify what they are," Parker ordered.

The worker nodded and typed in a code on the control panel and a small empty bar appeared above each of the three red circles. Then, the words **Identification: Covenant boarding craft **appeared in each of the bars.

"Oh shit!" Parker whispered in shock as his eyes went wide. They were in for a fight. "Put the ship on alert,"

"What about our course to the system, sir?" one of the workers asked.

"Keep going," Parker replied, facing the worker. "Hopefully, there'll be another ship there.

_**Michigan**_** hanger one**

In the hanger Debbie had finally managed to pull herself together and was talking with Hans about what Marcus. He did not interrupt her when she spoke and listened to every word.

"I've known him since we started our career in the UNSC," she said. "When I heard that he was in love with a woman called Anya from the ER, I was really annoyed, but…but I got over it eventually and…I was happy for him. I just wish I could have told him my feelings for him,"

Hans rested a hand on her shoulder. "I think he knew all along, Debbie," Hans sad to her, which caused her to look up at him to meet his gaze. "I mean, remember what he said to me back on Reach?"

She nodded and looked down at the metal floor of the resting area again. Hans took his hand off her shoulder but just as he was about to say something else to her…

**BLEEEEEPPPP!**

The two shot to their feet and frantically looked around as if they were trying to find the source of the noise. Then, the hanger seemed to change colour and they looked through the resting area entrance to see it had turned a blood red colour and that many other marines and workers in the hanger had also gotten to their feet and were looking around.

"C'mon, we better go see what's going on," Hans said to Debbie and they jumped down from the pelican's resting area onto the hanger floor. Just as Debbie jumped down from the pelican, one of the hanger doors, on the wall opposite the hanger exit facing space, opened and a marine ran into the hanger.

"Alright, everyone! Move out!" he ordered.

"What's going on?" a nearby worker asked.

"Covenant boarding craft are heading towards the ship," the marine replied. "We need to get everyone to the escape pod immediately! Let's go!"

At once, there was a scramble towards the corridor as everyone in the hanger headed towards it, now filled with terror that the Covenant had found them and were preparing to board the ship. Hans and Debbie joined them. However as they reached the corridor, Hans was suddenly being pushed forward by a group of marines and workers.

"Whoa! Debbie!" he exclaimed as he suddenly found himself being pushed away from her.

"Ah! Hans!" Debbie cried as she reached out to try and grab his hand but failed.

Hans grunted as he pushed his way back through the crowd, hearing some soldiers and workers say: "What the Hell is he doing?" or "He's crazy!" but he ignored them. He finally grabbed Debbie's hand and pulled her towards him.

"You alright?" he asked her as the last of the crowd ran past them.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied.

"Hey you two!" a voice shouted from up the corridor and the two looked up the corridor to see the marine that had ordered everyone to evacuate the ship standing about twenty feet from them. "C'mon, you can hold hands later! Let's go,"

Hans and Debbie quickly let go of each other's hands and, blushing a little, ran down the corridor to the end, which was another corridor that was larger and wide. It had a large metal pillar pointing diagonally left in the middle of the corridor to their left and to their right was a closed hexagon shaped door. A few other doorways along the right wall of the corridor were placed and each led into corridors. Hans and Debbie ran left down the corridor and joined a group of three marines and three workers as they ran right into the last doorway.

"Where exactly does this lead?" one of the marines asked. "I'm new to this ship and we could be headed to danger for all we know!"

"This corridor joins up into one of the main corridors of the ship and a smaller corridor comes off that and leads to the escape pods," a worker replied. "We just have to get to that main corridor and we'll be able to get to the escape pods,"

"That is providing we don't run into any Covenant borders," Debbie piped up.

Upon hearing this, some of the marines and workers exchanged worried glances. The Covenant was definitely going to start boarding the ship soon and there was no doubt they were not going to take prisoners. They had to get off the ship, and fast.

The group turned left into the next corridor, which was shorter than the one they had just left, and ran to the end of it, then turned right into the next corridor and ran towards the closed doorway at the end. As they approached it, the doorway opened automatically for them, revealing a long main corridor. The marines and the workers ran through first into the corridor.

Suddenly, just as Hans and Debbie were about to enter the main corridor, the marines and workers dived for cover as a wave of light blue, light green blasts and purple projectiles flew from the left into the group. One of the workers, however, failed to move quickly enough and was hit in the arm and chest by three purple projectiles and a blast, which threw the worker to the floor and he moved no more.

Hans moved to the end of the corridor and peeked his head out from the corridor and looked left down the corridor to see a major Elite, armed with a plasma rifle, with four minor Grunts, two of who were armed with plasma pistols and the other two were armed with needlers. One of the Grunts saw him and fired a projectile at him. Hans moved his head behind the wall and the projectile flew past where his head had been and struck the wall, on the other side of the doorway in the corridor.

"That was a close one," Hans said. he turned to Debbie. "We need to get to those escape pods quickly," he said to her.

"That's only if they don't leave without us," she replied.

She was right. That could very well happen to them and if they were left behind then they were as good as dead. If that was to happen, then Hans had to admit something to Debbie now.

"Debbie?" he inquired and she looked up at him. "I have something to say to you," he said.

"What" she asked.

Hans paused for a moment, trying to find a way of wording this to her, but just as he was about to tell her.

"Hey guys!" a voice shouted from the corridor and Hans, sighing in annoyance, turned and Debbie looked past him, to see one of the marines, who was hiding behind a small pillar attached the wall with one of the workers, waving at them. In his other hand were two M6C pistols.  
>"Catch!" he called and he tossed one of them to Hans, which he caught. He checked it to make sure it was loaded, which it was.<p>

"Hopefully we can get off the ship now," he said to Debbie and he cocked the weapon and aimed out down the corridor at the squad of Covenant, who were beginning to move down the corridor towards the group. He picked a target and fired a shot.

A high pitched yell filled the air and the body of one of the Grunts, armed with a needler, flipped backwards onto the floor, dead. The marine that had tossed Hans the pistol also fired a shot down the corridor, striking the shield of the Elite, which lit up. The Elite growled and fired a shot from It's plasma rifle at the marine, who immediately ducked behind the pillar, narrowly missing the blast as it struck the side of the pillar, just inches from the head of the marine. Hans aimed his pistol back out down the corridor and fired another shot, hitting and killing another Grunt armed with a plasma pistol. They were slowly breaking through the Covenant squad, but every moment they wasted here fighting the Covenant was another precious minute they could use to get to the drop ships.

"Give it here, Hans!" Debbie said.

"What are you gonna do?" he asked her.

"Watch," she replied, taking the pistol from him.

She moved past him and aimed out down the corridor at the Covenant squad, directly at the Elite. She fired two shots at the Elite, hitting him in the chest. The bullets broke through the Elites' shield, which made it light up before disappearing, and embedded themselves in the chest of the creature. The Elite roared loudly as it was thrown backwards to the floor and it moved no more.

"AAAHHHHHH!" the last two Grunts screamed. "RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!"

The two Grunts turned and ran towards a turning that led right at the end of the corridor behind them. The marine with the pistol aimed his weapon out at them and fired at them, hitting and killing both of them.

"Nice one, Debbie," Hans commented upon seeing the dead Elite.

"Are they gone?" a voice from behind them asked and the two, along with the marine and the worker across the corridor, turned to see the other worker and two marines, who had been hiding behind the pillars along the walls further down the corridor step out from behind them.

"Yeah, they're gone, man," the marine with the pistol told them. "Alright, let's go,"

The group ran down the corridor towards the end. Hans and Debbie, who had given the pistol back to Hans, joined them. The group turned right into a smaller corridor, which had two doorways along both walls and several pillars along the walls between each doorway. Another turning that led left was at the end of the corridor. If the workers were right, that was the corridor that led to the escape pods, but they were not getting worked up yet though.

Suddenly, a blast shot out of one of the doorways on the left wall and struck the wall opposite it. A shout followed by a gunshot followed and a worker emerged from the corridor, running backwards, and was firing down the corridor he had just emerged from with his pistol. A high pitched yell erupted from the corridor, indicating a Grunt had been killed. Then, as if by luck, the doors that led into the corridor closed shut and the light on them turned red, meaning it was now locked.

"That was close," the worker said. "Are you guys headed to the escape pods?" he asked.

"Yeah," one of the marines replied. "Just down the next corridor, isn't it?" he asked to which the worker nodded at.

"Follow me," he said.

The group followed the worker down the corridor to the end and turned left into the next one. Sure enough, along the right walls were several large doors that led to escape pods. One of them was closed, indicating that the pod had already left. A few more marines and workers were running into the pod at the end. One of the workers saw the group and waved as them.

"Hey guys! Get in here, quickly!" he called. "The Covenant are chasing us!"

Realising that the enemy was closer than they suspected, the group ran to the end of the corridor and into the escape pod. There were only just enough seats for all of them.

"Everyone in?" the pilot, a young woman with straight red hair, asked.

"Yeah! Go, quickly!" a marine exclaimed looking out of the door of the pod down the corridor outside.

The pilot turned back to the control panel in front of her and pressed a small button. The door to the ship closed and locked. Just in time as well as a squad of Covenant, comprising of a minor Elite and three Grunts came into view at the corridor. Hans and Debbie, who were sitting next to each other on the left side of the escape pod near the entrance, looked at each other fearfully and prayed that they would leave quickly.

It seemed their prayers had been answered a moment later. A sudden and violent jolt shook the pod and the marines and workers looked at the glass entrance door to see the corridor move further and further away as they moved through a long dark tunnel.

Then, a moment later, they found themselves staring at the side of the _Michigan_, which was burning in several places and several large shapes of Covenant boarding craft were visible along the sides attached to it. They were lucky to escape, but they could only imagine how many more were not going to escape.

One of the marines breathed a sigh of relief and rested his back against his seat.

"That was close!" he said.

The other nodded in agreement and began to wonder where they were to go now. The captain had not given out any orders so they were literally following their own instant in a dangerous part of space.

As Hans was looking out at the _Michigan_, Debbie's voice piped up again.

"Hans?" she said and he turned to look at her. "What was it you wanted to tell me earlier on?"

Hans looked at her for a moment, slowly piecing together what he had intended to say to her earlier on but had been interrupted from doing so. Should he tell her now, or should he just…forget it.

"Nothing," he replied after a few seconds and he resumed looking out at the _Michigan _as more large shapes attached themselves to it.

With the loss of Reach, the taskforce, the ER and now the _Michigan_, this was no doubt the worse blow to the UNSC since the loss of Takra and the marines and workers in the pod were beginning to think if any more days like this were to come.


	41. Should I just forget it?

**Seven days later**

**Date: April 17****th**

**Location: **_**Cairo **_**Orbital defence platform, Earth.**

In the seven days since the fall of Reach, Humanity in It's home system had prepared for a full scale attack by the Covenant, which they had a very strong feeling was coming soon. That fear only intensified further when a Covenant CCS battle cruiser had slip-space jumped to appear above Earth and had managed to escape after quickly detecting the Human presence on the planet and the surrounding worlds. Every station and every world was put on high alert and evacuation plans were being put into place, ready for the coming blow that would land on Earth and the other worlds in the solar system.

On the _Cairo_ Orbital Defence Platform, things were just as hectic here as they were everywhere else. However, there was another reason why they were so frantic. Just minutes after the CCS battle cruiser had escaped, a UNSC long sword fighter, which had come out of the same slip space rupture, crashed into a hanger on the platform and when the marines in the hanger had gone to investigate the craft, their vigilance level at It's height just in case there were any Covenant on board this craft as it had come out of the same slip-space rupture of the CCS battle cruiser, they were shocked to discover that someone was on board the craft. Someone they did not in their right minds expect to be alive, let alone see.

It was Eve, the last taskforce member. With her was Auto, the intelligent A.I. That had happened about an hour ago and Hood had immediately ordered the two to be debriefed. Auto was taken to Hood whilst Eve was taken to…some empty barracks on the station and told to wait as someone was going to go and talk to her.

In the hanger where the long sword fighter had crashed, Hans and a few other marines and workers were working on removing the remains of the craft from the hanger. It had been smashed in several places. The windows of the cog pit were broken and shattered, the wings were lying on the hanger floor, having been torn off with such force in the crash, along with the 'tail' of the fighter. There were large scrape marks across the side of the fighter as well as along the floor of the hanger. Some of the workers were cutting away at the fighter with metal cutting equipment with a few marines working on the bridge. Hans and a few other marines and workers were taking the scraps cut off from the fighter and putting them in a pile near the hanger entrance. As they worked, some talked about the CCS battle cruiser and the impending Covenant attack whilst others talked about Eve's sudden arrival.

"I thought she was dead," a marine said as he and Hans took a large piece of metal, which had been part of the wing, over to the pile of scrap metal.

"So did I," Hans replied. "Apparently, from what I've heard, her, John and a few other marines were on some…weird ring world,"

They dropped the piece of metal on the scrap pile and walked over to the fighter to get another piece of metal the workers had cut off.

Debbie was not here on the _Cairo_. She was far below the platform on Earth in Washington D.C visiting her mother. She would not have heard about Eve's arrival yet, or probably about the Covenant CCS battle cruiser showing up above earth all of a sudden so Hans would have to fill her in when he saw her again.

As he picked up the other piece of metal with the marine, he began to think about the past few months. He had tried to talk to Debbie and tell her how he felt about her but he was always stopped by something. In Rodum on Takra he had been interrupted trying to talk to her about how he felt for her. He had tried to tell her on the _Michigan_ a week ago and he had been interrupted then and he had tried twice this week to tell her. The first the day after they arrived back on Earth and she had to be called away and the second was yesterday just before she was about to leave but he had to report to New Mombassa for something to do with security defences being prepared. It was getting very frustrating, frustrating to the point where he was actually thinking of forgetting of trying to tell her how he felt about her, just like he had done when he and Debbie had escaped the _Michigan_.

"Hans?" the marine helping him carry the piece of metal asked. "Hans?" he said again, snapping him out of his trance. "Are you alright?" the marine asked him.

Hans nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry," he replied.

The marine gave him a puzzled look but decided not to ask him if anything was wrong and they carried the metal piece over to the pile and dumped it on the pile and walked back over to the fighter to get another piece.


	42. I love you

**Date: April 21****st**

**Location: Voi, Earth **

Voi, once a small port town and trucking stop on the way to New Mombassa. It's port always busy with shipments to and from the great city across the enormous lake, It's population of 2,500 filled with good wages, work and generally easy lives on the coast of the lake.

Now, however, their jobs, their homes and workplace and the lives of many in this port town, all of it was now ablaze. Fires filled many of the docklands and surrounding apartments and small medical and cultural (i.e. the town's library and history museum) buildings, smoke fill the air above the port town and much of the sub-Saharan grassland around the edges of the town was either burned to a crisp or were black with ash from the burning buildings.

In the sky overhead, a large shape flew over the burning town of Voi. It was an enormous silver ship, well over fifteen thousand feet long, that was split into two sections: a teaspoon-like front section with an eagle-like rear section with four large engines sticking out of the back of the eagle-like section. At the front of the eagle like section was an enormous hanger big enough to fit two UNSC frigates. This ship was a Covenant assault carrier.

The ship flew on over the destroyed town of Voi towards an enormous hole, about 75 miles wide, that looked more like a crater. At the bottom of the crater, covering almost the entire 75 miles from one side to the other, was a large metal surface with large strange markings over it. Above this metallic surface were more Covenant ships, mainly CCs battle cruisers but with about three other assault carriers, that were firing glassing beams of energy down onto the ground around the edges of the metallic ground. They had been uncovering this thing for a few days now. What was it? More importantly: why was the Covenant looking for it?

Those questions were being asked by everyone still in the area, especially by two UNSC personal in a small building near a kind of hill that had been formed by the Covenant firing their glassing beams onto the ground. The building was a large cube shaped building that went up about two floors from the ground. A large hole was where part of the roof had once been, it now having caved in by the Covenant attack. Fires were raging on the ground floor and the two floors above it. Ahead of it were three large metallic legs sticking out of the bottom of a saucer shaped metallic object that was about twenty/twenty five feet in the air.

On the top floor of the building, in what had been a large office room, were two figures, sitting on the floor next to a smashed window, a fire burning about ten feet away from them on a wooden desk where a computer had once been, which was now lying on the floor next to the burning wooden table, It's screen smashed and large holes . It was a UNSC soldier and a UNSC medic.

It was Debbie and Hans. They had been in Voi since yesterday and earlier on had been with their comrades until the Covenant drove them from this part of Voi almost all the way to the entrance tunnel of the town. These two…they were cut off and alone and were watching their world burn before them as the Covenant swept away anyone who tried to stop them from uncovering this…thing, let alone try and attack and retake Voi. They were, as they had heard from the Crow's Nest HQ base outside Voi, setting up large anti-air cannons, explaining why there were three large metallic legs being constructed on the end of a hill on the edge of this crater.

Though it looked like they were trapped and doomed, the two were not making any attempt to make a run for it or make a stand. To be honest, there was not really any point. The Covenant could easily blow up the building if they did try and make a stand and plus it would be useless trying to make a run for it for they had patrols going around the town, especially around this area even though they had wrestled it from the control of the UNJSC forces here.

"Do you think this is the end of Earth?" Debbie asked him calmly as she looked out at the Covenant ships flying over the enormous crater.

"No," Hans replied, also in a calm voice as he too looked out and watched an assault carrier fire a glassing beam down onto the ground near the metallic surface they had uncovered. "There's still hope for Earth and us. Something will come to save us,"

He turned to face Debbie and she turned to face him. Their eyes met, each of them filled with a hidden sorrow but a relaxed and calm feeling and knowing that this was it for them. This was the end for them.

For Hans, however, there was something else in his eyes. A feeling that he just wanted to say now before something could stop him. It may sound useless now as the two were most likely close to their deaths, but he was going to tell Debbie now, even if it was the last thing he said to her.

"Debbie," he said, taking her hands in his and looking deep into her eyes. "There's something I've wanted to say to you,"

"What is it?" she asked.

He moved closer to her. "I've tried telling you in the last few weeks, like when we were on the _Michigan_ when it got attacked, but I got stopped. Then when we were on the _Cairo_, I tried telling you then, but I still got stopped from doing so there as well," He struggled to keep his voice from breaking a little and he took a deep breath to calm himself down. "I just wanted to say to you that…that-"

"You love me," she finished his sentence.

Hans paused for a second as if he had been caught off guard before he nodded. "Yeah. You really are a great person. You're nice and beautiful and caring, but you've stuck by me since Eucia II and Takra all those months ago and you've been there for me," his voice began to break, though this time he could not stop it and a tear rolled down his face.

Debbie was also beginning to feel the same way. A tear rolled down her cheek and she sniffed and embraced him tightly and he embraced her.

"If there's one thing I know about you, Hans," Debbie said, though it was slightly muffled. "It's that you're the perfect man for me," she moved away from him and gazed lovingly into his tear filled eyes with her eyes that were also tearful. "You were there for me when we fled Reach. You've protected me since the Covenant attacked. I-I don't think I could choose any other way to die now than right here with you,"

Hans smiled and embraced Debbie tightly, not wanting to let go. She embraced him tightly as well. Overhead, the roar of UNSC long sword fighter engines filled the air as they flew in towards the Covenant ships for an attack, though it would most likely be in vain.

"I love you, Hans," she said as more tears fell from her eyes.

"I love you too, Debbie," he replied as he too began to cry.

The two had finally proclaimed their love after months of hiding it and ignoring the true fact that they were meant for each other, though they knew that these could be their last moments alive.

It seemed that they were right. In the sky above the hill, a banshee fired a green ion blast at the last of the five UNSC long sword fighters that had tried, and failed, to attack a Covenant assault carrier. The blast struck the back of the fighter and it exploded, breaking it in two. One half fell into the crater, the other half fell down towards the cube shaped building Hans and Debbie were in. The two looked up at it and embraced tightly, a final act of love before they were to die.

The half of the fighter heading towards them suddenly broke in two itself, one section being half of the right wing, the other half being the rest of the wing and part of the side of the main section of the craft. The main section flew over the building and slammed into the ground just millimetres behind a gate, creating a deep crater. The smaller half, the rest of the wing, crashed into the roof of the building and skidded across it before falling over the edge to the ground below. The roof moved slightly before pausing for a second as if trying to stop itself from caving in before it finally gave in and collapsed onto the floor below.

Their part in this war and the defence of Earth was over.


	43. One final mission

**April 23****rd**

**Location: two miles outside the remains of Voi**

"Uuuugh!"

On the bed of a UNSC medical hospital in a small village near the edge of the jungle about two miles north of Voi, a young soldier was waking up. He had blonde hair, blue eyes and was quite heavily built. It was Hans. He had survived the crash of the UNSC long sword fighter in Voi. As he sat up everything began to come back to him. He and Debbie had been sitting in a small building...they had admitted that they loved each other…then…the crash.

Debbie! His eyes shot open and he glanced around the room he was in. It was small and square with plain white walls, a small plant in one corner of the room and a holographic add that showed the nearby jungle landscape and the animals that lived in it placed on the wall adjacent to him. A door was on the right wall with a window on the left wall of the room. A chair was placed next to his bed. Hans was hoping someone else would be in the room with him, even if it was another wounded marine, but he could not see another bed or anyone else in the room. Where was she? Was she alive and okay? He had a terrible thought of her having not survived the crash but he shook it out his mind. She had to be alive. She had to be okay.

It was then he noticed that he was in a state. Parts of his UNSC marine's uniform were torn at the arms. In fact, the sleeves were missing from the elbows down. A few machines monitoring his heartbeat, blood level and such were standing next to his bed. A small kind of clamp had been attached to his left arm from one of the machines. He had a slightly blood stained bandage around his side and a small scar over his other arm. Horrific injuries, but he had survived, but what about Debbie? Where was she?

He moved his legs over to the side of the bed and was about to stand up when the door to the room opened and a high ranking UBSC officer in a white officer's uniform entered the room. He looked elderly and he had a white flat capped UNSC officer's hat on. Hans recognized him immediately.

"Lord Hood!" he exclaimed.

"At ease, Hans," he replied, closing the door behind him and walking over to his bed. He pulled up the chair in front of Hans and sat down on it. "You've been out for about two days,"

Hans' eyes went wide when he heard this. "What!" he exclaimed. "A-a day?" he asked to which Hood nodded at.

"Yep. At one point, we thought we were going to lose you. It's amazing that you survived the crash of that fighter in Voi,"

_Well that's great _Hans thought. _But what about Debbie?_

"What about Debbie?" he asked. "There was a woman marine medic with me. Is she alright?"

"She's fine," Hood answered.

Hans was not fully convinced. He knew that sometimes doctors or medics told the friends of the wounded that their friends were going to be okay, but were actually lying because they would actually die.

"No c'mon, sir," he said to Hood. "Is she actually alright?" he asked again.

Hood replied with the same answer. "She's fine, Hans," he said. "She's actually fine. She's been taken to a hospital in Nairobi for treatment. She was lucky as well to survive but got knocked out like you did, but I assure you, she'll be fine,"

Hans breathed a sigh of relief. Oh well. Maybe she was not here with him, but at least he knew, and he had Hoods' word, that she was okay. Hopefully her injuries were not too threatening and that she would make a full recovery soon.

"So what's happened whilst I've been out?" he asked.

"A lot," Hood replied. "Eve returned to Earth yesterday after stowing away on Truth's ship and helped clear Voi but then he activated this…large portal thing, which the enormous metallic ground, which is actually a structure, was and this parasitic race landed on Earth but Elites suddenly sided with us and helped get rid of them and now they've gone with Mary McCrea and our last two UNSC ships and their crews and a few hundred marines, Eve being among them, to someplace called the Ark, which is what the Covenant were looking for to activate these rings you've been hearing about,"

Hans took all of that in with ease. Wow, he really has missed a lot. What was surprising about all this was that the Elites have joined them. That really was a shock, but then again he had some suspicion of something going on in the Covenant ranks. Apparently, not long after word of one of the prophets, Regret, had been killed by Eve a few days ago, there was some reported infighting between the Elites and the Brutes. He did not think it was true at first but now he had been proved wrong. It looks the Covenant was splintering apart but was determined to stay strong, and by the looks of things now with the Covenant the Brutes were going to keep the Covenant together just as the Elites had done.

"So what's going on now?" Hans asked Hood after a few moments' silence.

"We're searching the entire East Africa area but our forces are spread thin because of the sudden attack by the Flood," Hans gave Hood a confused look so he added. "That's the parasitic alien race that I told you had come here. Anyway, we're searching to see if there are any Covenant still in the surrounding areas, but, as I've told you, we're spread thin because of the attack, and plus we have to keep law and order across the planet,"

"What about Voi?" Hans asked him.

"The Elites had to glass that to stop the Flood from spreading," Hood answered. "It also got rid of most of the remaining Covenant on the ground next to the Flood attack but we're taking no chances. In fact, that's half the reason why I've come here to check up on you. We need to see if your fit enough to go back out into battle,"

Hans nodded and stood up. "I'll go," he said.

"Are you sure, Hans?" Hood asked him, also getting to his feet. "I mean, are you sure your fit enough to go back out there?"

"Yes," Hans told him. "I don't care if I'm injured, I still want to defend Earth. Plus, for all we know there could be Covenant heading towards Nairobi, and Debbie's there and…" he trailed off but Hood knew what he meant.

"I understand," he said. "Alright, I'll go and let the reception know so just wait here. Then, when they're done, report to a truck outside. There'll be a sergeant waiting to take you and a squad to an LZ nearby,"

Hans nodded and Hood stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. As Hans sat down on his bed, he began to think of Debbie. He was glad she was safe and that she was well. Even though he was injured by the crash in Voi, he was determined to stop any Covenant that might be in the surrounding landscape areas. Plus, as he had told Hood, there was a chance that the Covenant might be headed to Nairobi, though that was unlikely but he was not taking any chances. He wanted to go out and fight them to save her and possibly many others.

The only thing that was stopping him was what the doctors might say when they come and examine him in a few moments time.


	44. Battle of Athi village

**One hour later**

**Ten miles south of Nairobi**

The midday sun burned furiously down onto the jungle landscape of East Africa, making it very hot and humid. The clouds of smoke that had drifted over parts of the country from New Mombassa's remains were now beginning to subside. Life was still going on normally for Mother Nature in much of Kenya, making it much more peaceful than around the Voi area where virtually everything had been wiped out by the fighting and the recent glassing of the area by the Elites in an effort to stem the wave of Flood leaving from a crashed CCS battle cruiser.

The mopping up operations around the East Africa areas was also underway. The UNSC were trying to make sure that there were no Covenant left on Earth. As they were all sent to East Africa for the digging of this portal thing, it was not going to be too much of a hard process. They also expected to be facing just a few scattered units of Covenant that had been defending other ways into Voi or had been searching the nearby jungles for any UNSC. The villages and towns that had not been evacuated during the battle, as they were too far for the Covenant to gain and they did not consider them important to hold of the UNSC, were now evacuated until all of the jungle area had been searched.

In the skies above the jungle near Kenya's capital Nairobi, a large shape descended towards a small clearing a few hundred metres from a village. It was a pelican. On board were six marines. With them was Hans. He had been examined by the doctors back at the medical building and was told he was fit enough to go back out, and he was glad that he was able to. The UNSC were glad as well as they needed every available man they could have that had not gone on the mission to the Ark.

However, part of Hans' gladness to go and fight the remaining Covenant in East Africa was out of desperation. He had heard that the hospital Debbie had been taken to was near the edge of the city, near the National Park of Nairobi and he feared if this squad of Covenant got into Nairobi and saw the hospital, they might take everyone there hostage, or worse, they might slaughter everyone inside, including Debbie.

As the pelican descended towards the ground, Hans, who was sitting at the end of the resting area, looked out at the passing jungle below as it seemed to reach towards them as if growing. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a king of dirt track appeared and led underneath the pelican from a turning between a few trees a few metres away. The cog pit door opened and the co-pilot stuck his head out.

"Alright, everyone off," he said and the marines picked up their weapons from under their seats, four of them being battle rifles and the other two being MA5B assault rifles, and jumped down from the resting area to the ground.

"_Okay, men," _came the pilot's voice from their radios attached to their uniform's chests. _"Head down this road towards the village of Athi near the rainforest edge. Local militia will be waiting for you there. Good luck,"_

The pelican hovered up into the air and turned and flew back the way they had come, quickly disappearing from sight behind the tree tops. When the craft disappeared, the squad's sergeant, a black man who was an African from Malawi cleared his throat.

"Alright, let's go," he said in a strong African/English accent and they set off down the track.

As they walked, Hans winced slightly and rested a hand on his side. His wound had not fully healed and even though he had bandages there and had been given a serum to help it heal quicker, it was still in danger of bleeding. The doctors had told him to be careful not to rub his side or lean too far on it in case his bandages split and caused the wound to start bleeding again.

"What kind of village is Athi, sir," one of the marines asked the sergeant.

"It is mainly a wood gathering one," the sergeant replied. "It is one of Nairobi's main sources of wood and many people live near the mill there,"

"Wonder why the Covenant have taken this village, or have said to taken it, but aren't advancing further towards Nairobi?" one of the marines asked himself.

"It is because Athi is quite a good place for defence," another marine answered. "It's near a man-made river that's about twenty feet wide and quite deep and It's near a small hill, perfect for defence,"

As the marines talked, Hans drifted away from what danger they might face soon and set his thoughts on Debbie. He wondered how she was doing in that hospital in Nairobi, if she knew of the danger that was coming towards the city and if there were any marines protecting the hospital against any Covenant that might try and attack the hospital. He was hoping, at least to stop the Covenant and drive them away, though it was better to kill them as they would no longer pose a threat. Either way, he just wanted to make sure Debbie and everyone else in that hospital stayed safe.

After a few minutes, the squad came to a small curved turning on the track that led left into a deeper part of the jungle. As they turned into the next part of the path, the sergeant suddenly stopped and held up his hand to order the rest of the squad to stop as well, which they did. He crouched down and moved down the track a little, his battle rifle raised and pointing ahead down the track.

"What is it, sir?" a marine asked, whispering.

"I heard something," he replied. He stepped further down the path and placed his finger on the trigger, ready to fire on whatever might emerge from the jungle if it was a threat, which it most likely might be.

Then, a twig snapped and the squad froze. The sergeant's eyes went wide and stared ahead of him as if he were a statue. A drop of sweat ran down his face from his forehead. His heart began to beat madly against his chest and his breathing grew quieter, but heavier. Something, or someone, was head of them in the jungle.

Then, a head emerged from the right side of the jungle, but the sergeant did not fire and neither did the squad. In fact, he lowered his weapon. The source of the noise was an animal, an Oribi, a kind of Kenyan deer, but with more an orange/brownish coat with a white colour under It's stomach and chin and short bushy tail. It was a beautiful creature, but what was it doing in the jungle?

"At ease, men," the sergeant said and he stood up. Behind him, the other men of his squad stood up as well and walked down the track as the Oribi walked onto the track and turned It's head to stare at the squad.

"Wonder what It's doing here," Hans said. "I thought these things were usually found in the grasslands,"

"Yes they are," one of the marines replied. "He must've gotten out of the national park and gotten lost,"

The Oribi took a step towards the squad and the sergeant held out his hand. The animal gingerly took another step towards him and began moving his nose as if it was interested in what this person was doing.

SNAP! Another twig snapped to their right and the Oribi froze and turned to look at the jungle. The sergeant withdrew his hand and aimed his weapon at the trees, the squad doing the same. The sound of leaves rustling made the Oribi decide it was time to leave and it ran off into the trees left of the track, disappearing into the undergrowth. The men, one or two quickly glancing at the deer as if ran off, kept their eyes glued to the trees and held their breaths as they saw leaves a few metres in front of them move and the sound of rustling leaves across the forest floor growing louder.

"Get ready to fire," the sergeant whispered to his men, placing his finger on the trigger of his battle rifle. The men nodded and took aim, ready to fire on whatever might come out of the forest and attack them.

Then, the leaves were brushed aside.

"NO! Don't shoot!"

A tall black man had emerged from the jungle and held up his hands, one of which was holding a hunting rifle, in terror as he saw the marines.

"Don't shoot!" he cried. "I am local militia!"

The sergeant and his squad lowered their weapon. "Sorry about that, but we couldn't be sure," he said, shaking the man's hand.

The man nodded and turned his head towards the jungle to their right and said: "It's okay, come out," and the leaves were rustling and pushed aside ponce more as seven more people emerged from the jungle, five black men and two white men. Each of them was carrying either a hunting rifle or a pistol.

"Are you from Athi?" the sergeant asked the man, who nodded.

"Yes. You are the marines that have been sent to help us?" he asked hopefully and the sergeant nodded. "Good, we are very desperate to stop these invaders,"

"How many Covenant are in the village," the sergeant asked.

"Many," the man replied. "We tried to hold them off but their numbers overwhelmed us and we were driven out. There were more of us but they chased us and killed some of us. We are all that's left of the forty strong militia,"

The sergeant nodded and turned to his men. "Alright, men, prepare to move out," he turned back to the man. "Lead the way," he said.

The man nodded and he walked back into the jungle with the rest of the militia. The sergeant and his squad followed, quickly disappearing into the undergrowth. As the moved, their feet made the leaves on the ground rustle loudly. Above them, they could hear birds squawking and flying from tree to tree, drawing an occasional glance from the men below.

"How far away is Athi?" the sergeant asked.

"About a five minute walk," one of the militia replied. "The only thing we have to worry about is part of the river that goes into the jungle but there's a small crossing we can use to get across it onto the village side,"

The sergeant nodded. The group walked on into the jungle, trudging over logs and small holes. A few birds squawked above and flew off as the men moved below them. One of them almost stumbled as he stepped into a hole that was covered by fallen leaves from a tree, drawing a bit of embarrassment to himself as he regained his footing and trudged on.

Hans, as he walked on, was lost in thought, again by Debbie. He was beginning to think would he see her again after this mission. Would he be killed? He tried not to think of it, but it was like something that many soldiers thought about when they were going into combat. They would always ask themselves: would they live or would they die?

A few minutes later, the squad reached the river. It was wide, about twenty feet, but not really that deep, only about fifteen feet or so, give or take a few more feet. However, the militia were right about the crossing. A few feet left was a small wooden bridge made out of twigs that had been tied together with wooden legs along the sides driven diagonally down into the riverbed. The squad walked across it to the other bank and disappeared back into the jungle.

"We are almost there," the black man who had greeted the sergeant piped up after about a minute. "Just another hundred or so metres,"

The squad prepared themselves for what was to come. There was no doubt that the Covenant would have a large force there, as the militia had told them there were many in the village, but how many was the real question. Also, what types were there? Were the Covenant mainly Brutes? Or Drones? Or Jackals? Or Hunters?

Suddenly, one of the black men of the militia, armed with a rifle, froze, which caused the rest of the squad halt in their tracks well.

"What is it?" one of the white men militia asked him.

"I heard something and it was definitely not an animal," he replied.

"Stay low," the sergeant ordered and he and his men crouched, which the militia did as well, and the squad, slowly and cautiously, moved forward.

As they moved further on, they began to hear something as well. It sounded…like…shouts? Yes it was shouts! Then, as the squad moved closer to which the noise of the shouting grew steadily louder, they could hear high-pitched shouting. Unless they were children with adults, the only other source of the noise was Covenant, which was most likely to be the answer.

Then, the squad came to an end of the jungle and, ahead of them, saw a large clearing with a dirt road leading into it from across a small wooden bridge, a little bigger than the one the squad had crossed, that went over the river. Scattered on the bank nearest the squad were about twenty or thirty buildings, all of them made of thick wooden timber with tiled roofs. A small cube shaped building was placed a few metres from the bridge with three small power generators behind it. On the top of the building were several solar panels, indicating these generators received their power through sunlight. A few pickup trucks were parked next to or in front of some of the houses.

Then, a large figure walked out from behind the building nearest the squad. The figure was tall and heavily built with teal green armour and rhino-like skin. It was a Brute. In It's hand was a spiker. A few smaller figures then ran out from behind an overturned pickup truck next to the house that was nearest the bridge and a few metres from the generator building. Grunts, all of them minor and wielding plasma pistols.

"Keep watch, you whelps!" a deep voice shouted out from somewhere else in the village. "Stop fooling around!"

"It does not sound there are many of them," the sergeant said to the man who had greeted him.

"They must have gone across to the other bank," the man replied. "There were many of them, about thirty to fifty at least,"

"They must have gone to scout out what's ahead of them and left this group behind," the sergeant said, watching the Brute as he turned so his back was facing them. He looked left and right and began scratching his chin with his clawed hand.

"We have to take 'em out quickly," one of the marines whispered to the sergeant, who nodded in agreement and turned to face the black man who had greeted them in the jungle, who was crouched down next to him.

"Take your squad around to the other end of the village and get ready to surprise them," he said. "We'll take the out from here. Hold your fire until you hear us fire,"

The man nodded and motioned for his squad to move towards the other end of the village. The militia got up and, moving as quietly and as quickly as they could, ran back into the jungle, heading towards the left side of the village. The sergeant and his squad formed a line, staying crouched, across the end of the jungle and raised their weapons, aiming directly at the Brute, who was completely unaware of the danger behind him.

"On my mark," the sergeant whispered. "One…two…THREE!"

At once, a barrage of gunfire filled the air and the Brute roared loudly as his armour was broken apart and bullets embedded themselves in his body before he was thrown forward onto the ground and he moved no more. More gunfire erupted further down the village, followed by the high-pitched screams of the Grunts.

"Move out!" the sergeant ordered.

The squad ran out of the jungle into the village. Hans quickly looked left to see the militia run out of the trees and charge into the village, disappearing behind another house about thirty metres away. As the squad ran out from behind the house, they saw another Brute wearing teal green armour, explaining the source for the other deep voice they heard, fall to the ground, dead. The group of three minor Grunts panicked and ran around in different directions, waving their arms in the air in terror as they tried to get away from this sudden attack by the marines and the militia. They failed and all three were shot and killed.

Once the gunfire had died down, the two groups came together. As they did Hans looked around the village and saw several baskets filled with fruit tipped on their sides. There were also a few pools of blood on the ground. Everyone in the village must have been taken by surprise by the sudden Covenant attack. Hopefully they all got out, but the pools of blood might indicate not everyone was lucky to escape in time. **  
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>"Well done," the sergeant said, looking at the dead bodies of the Covenant. "Though, we better keep our guard up. If the rest of 'em are nearby, they might have heard those gunshots,"<p>

"I will go and scout out," one of the militia piped up and before anyone could stop him, he ran across the bridge and disappeared into the jungle on the other side.

"Alright," the sergeant announced. "Spread out amongst the village. Try and search the houses as well in case there's any Covenant still lurking about,"

The squad obeyed and spread themselves throughout the village. As Hans ran towards the left end of the village, he saw a small rock hill with a wide gap between it where the river was coming out from, or where it had been coming out from before a wooden dam had been built between the gap. A small wooden stairwell went up the side of the rock hill to the dam.

Then, Hans' eyes rested on something ahead of him. It was a long rectangular building, again made of wooden timber, with a large cube section at the right end. Two doorways were along the wall facing the village. Outside the building next to the cube shaped section was a pile of wooden logs cut from the jungle. It was a saw mill, placed directly next to the river.

Hans knelt down near one of the doorways and looked inside, looking both left and right must to make sure there were no Covenant. There were none, which was good. As he turned around and faced the other bank of the river, he saw several militia and marines come out of the houses and shouted to each other "Clear!" indicating that those houses were also clear of Covenant. Now they just had to wait and see if the other Covenant would return. Hans was hoping they would, but not because for the thrill of a fight but only because he wanted to make sure they were all killed and that would make certain the chances that Debbie and those in the hospital would be okay.

Suddenly, a distant shout filled the air, followed by the sounds of fire, not gunfire…this sounded more like blast fire. Silence returned a moment later and filled the air for another minute or so before a man suddenly ran out of the jungle along the other bank and ran across the bridge.

"They're coming!" he shouted in a panicked voice. "There are many of them! At least fi-AAAAHHH!"

He was suddenly stopped mid-sentence by a blast that hit him in the back. His eyes went wide and he fell forward onto the bridge floor, dead.

"KILL THEM ALL! RETAKE THIS MUD HUT VILLAGE!" a deep voice roared from the other bank.

Suddenly, more blasts and laser shots were flying from the other bank into the village. The marines and the militia dived for cover behind whatever they could find. Hans dived into the saw mill to avoid a light green blast that struck the wall, only just missing him. As he sat up, breathing a sigh of relief, and looked out through the doorway, he saw an enormous group of Covenant run onto the bridge. There must be at least forty, no, _fifty_ and was a mixture of Brutes, Grunts, Jackals and Drones and all were firing a barrage on the village in an effort to pin down the defenders there and storm and overwhelm it. The defenders responded with a barrage of their own against the Covenant.

As Hans fired a burst of ammo from his battle rifle at the Covenant, he saw a Drone coming towards him. Panic instantly filled him, especially when he saw that the Drone was unarmed and looked set on ripping him apart with It's sharp bare hands. Then, as Hans tried to reload, the creature set itself upon him. 

Hans gasped for breath as the Drone began screeching and clutched a hand down on his neck and began to push down. Hans gasped for breath. His vision began to fade and his breathing was slowly getting weaker. It looked like the end for him.

"HEY!" a voice shouted from nearby and Hans, with his fading vision looked to see one of the militia raise his weapon at the Drone. The creature screeched loudly and inadvertently loosened It's grip on Hans' neck. Now was his chance.

Using all his strength, Hans threw the Drone off him into the pile of timber and rushed to grab his weapon that had been knocked out of his hand to the ground beside him. The Drone screeched and went to charge into him but Hans was too quick for him and he fired a burst of ammo at the Drone. The bullets easily broke through the creature's thin light green armour and it fell backwards onto the pile of timber dead. The militia man who had distracted the Drone fired another shot at the creature just to make sure it was dead.

"Sir, they're getting closer!" a voice shouted from near the river and Hans, who dived behind the pile of timber to avoid being fired on, looked over to see one of the marines fall to the ground, dead, having been struck in the face by a blast. He then looked over at the bridge to see the Brutes, one of who was wearing thick dark red armour with a kind of large helmet on his head and wielding two plasma pistols, was marching down the bridge, his army of Covenant behind him. They were going to overwhelm them soon. They had to do something! They had to-

Wait! Hans looked up at the wooden dam and then back at the river. A plan began to form in his head, but would it work? He looked questionably over at the body of the Brute the militia had killed and hoped there would be one there, but even if there was: would it work?

Hans, keeping low, ran out from behind the wall of timber towards the body of the Brute, skidding to a halt as he reached it, and he began to search the body, taking off the armour and throwing it aside. A few blasts hit the ground near him and he began to panic and moved faster to find what he was after.

Finally, after a few hectic minutes, he found it. Taking his hand out from underneath the armour that was attached to the hip of the Brute, he held a small dark blue ball with an orange thunderbolt running down the front of it. A Covenant plasma grenade, a deadly and lethal weapon, but would it work in Hans' plan? Well, he would have to hope it would or he and everyone in this village was dead and if that happened then Nairobi was sure to be attacked.

Hans ran back towards the saw mill, though this time he ran to the end furthest from the river. Ahead of him was the wooden staircase that led up the thirty feet to the dam at the top of the rock hill. Taking a deep breath, as he knew he would be exposed and the fact that, if the Covenant saw him, he would be dead, he ran up the stairs towards the top, silently praying that the Covenant would not see him. Evidentially, they did and fired a few blasts up at him but, thankfully, they all missed and Hans managed to get to the top of the hill and ran across a flat carved pathway that led to the dam.

When he reached it, he saw a large reservoir of water piling up behind the dam. The wooden dam was about fifteen feet wide and about twenty feet tall with a wooden pathway leading across the twenty foot wide gap from one side of the river to the other. Also, from where Hans was, there was a small cube shaped machine attached to the floor of the wooden pathway in the middle of the dam, which was the controls to a metal gate that would self-activate and open the gate when the water level in the reservoir got too high to stop it from overflowing. A good building here, but now he was going to have to destroy it to stop the Covenant.

Hans pressed his finger down on the orange thunderbolt and threw the plasma grenade to the back of the dam and ducked down, covering his ears and head.

BOOM! The grenade exploded, filling the air around the dam with a light blue colour. Hans looked up to see a large gaping hole in the back of the dam to which the water was flowing through, but as he looked at the front of the dam, he saw that it still stood firmly. Damn it, it was not breaking! He looked down at the village and saw that the remnants of the marines and the militia, now numbering about four each as the others had been killed, had ran back into one of the houses and were firing on the Covenant from there. The Covenant were still firing at them, having completely forgotten about Hans, and the Brute in the dark red armour with the two plasma rifles had marched across the bridge to the other side. Hans looked desperately down at the dam, praying it would break, but it did not. Damn it, he had to do something or those in the village would die!

The only thing he could do now was to try and widen the hole with his rifle. He did not know if it would work but it was the only way to make the water flow en masse down below. He loaded another clip of ammo into his battle rifle and fired along the back of the dam from his end to the other end and back repeatedly. When he had used that clip, he loaded another into it and fired again, this time trying to weaken it along the top. After using that clip, he stepped towards the edge of the hill and, after loading a third clip of ammo into his battle rifle, fired along the front of the dam. He used up two clips but still the dam was not breaking. He began to panic and looked down at the bridge. The Covenant were still mainly stuck on it but were getting closer to the end. Another few moments and they would overwhelm the village. Hans reached into his pocket and took out his last five clips of ammo. He loaded one of them into his weapon and took aim at the front of the dam.

Wait! His plan of firing at the dam to weaken it was not working, but he had badly damaged it enough, so…what if he opened the gate? If that happened then the movement might break the wood…and therefore break the dam! It was a bit crazy, he mentally admitted to himself, but it was the only other way he could think of that could try and break this dam and stop the Covenant below.

Taking aim towards the cube shaped machine on the dam, he fired a burst of ammo. The bullets hit the metal, making it spark furiously as the inner circuits and wires were torn.

Then, the sound of cogs turning filled his ears and he looked at the front of the dam to see the metal gate rise up. Instantly like a cheering crowd rushing forward to meet someone special, water began to flow forward through the new hole. Well it was partly working but the dam had to break in ord-

CRASH! The wooden beams suddenly broke apart and gave way to the ever more powerful rush of water as it poured out from the reservoir. Hans moved back a few metres and watched as the wave of water roared loudly as it fell to the river below in a great rush as it were desperate to finally unite with the river once again. Then, like a force of anger, it surged forward, now a huge wave, heading directly towards the bridge.

One of the Grunts giggled happily as it neared the end of the bridge. They were getting closer to defeating their Human enemies! Soon they would reclaim this village and then march north towards this great city the Humans call 'Nairo-'

Suddenly, a thunderous sound filled the Grunts' ears and it looked up the river to see a huge wave coming towards them.

**"AAAAHHHHHH! TIDAL WAVE! RUN AWAY!" **the Grunt screamed as terror gripped him.

The other Covenant looked up the river to see what the Grunt was screaming about and terror quickly gripped them as well when they saw the huge wave coming toward them. Some were frozen to the spot as if the wave had some kind of magic that was making them stay where they were so it could kill them, others were either running to the ends of the bridge or jumping over the sides, pushing and shoving one another aside to get out of the path of the wave.

Then, with an almighty crash, the wave slammed into the bridge. The screams of the Covenant soldiers still on the bridge or in the water filled the air before being silenced as the wave engulfed them. The bridge was broken apart as if it were made of matchsticks and swept down river with the bodies of the Covenant, some of who were visible to Hans as he watched the wave force It's way downstream. The Brute in dark red armour roared in surprise and went wide-eyed when he saw his entire force, which had been behind him just moments earlier, suddenly swept away before him.

The remaining men in the house saw their chance. "Open fire on him!" the sergeant ordered and the marines and militia fired a barrage of bullets at the Brute, hitting him in the back as he had turned around, therefore exposing the weak sections of his armour. The armour's shield lit up but quickly disappeared and the bullets broke through the armour. The Brute roared loudly as it was thrown backwards onto the ground before it went quiet and moved no more.

When the Brute was killed, the men in the house rushed out cheering and yelling, some jumping up and down happily. They had won. Athi village was theirs and the threat to Nairobi was eliminated.

"Nice work, Hans!" the sergeant shouted up to him, giving him a thumbs up as well.

Hans smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped down onto the ground and looked up at the sky. He had done it! Nairobi was safe, the hospital and everyone inside it was safe, but, most importantly, Debbie was safe.

His final mission had been a success.


	45. Two lovers who proclaim their love

**Date: April 24****th****, 2552**

**Location: UNSC memorial, near Voi**

Dusk was descending onto East Africa, which was now scarred for many years as it had been glassed by the Elites to stop the spread of the Flood. A quiet and cool breeze blew in the air. The scene was so peaceful. Normally, this would be the end to another day, but for Earth and the surviving colonies of Phobos, Mars' northern colony sector Area, Deimos and Ganymede, it was a day that would forever be marked in Human history. It was the day that the memorial service for those who had fallen in the defence of Earth and her colonies and the defeat of the Covenant and the Flood was being held.

On a barren hillside near the enormous crater with the portal was a large metal crate with a piece of what had been part of the _Forward Unto Dawn's_ armour above the bridge. Engraved in the side of it, in big white letters, were the words: **In memory of the marine in the defence of Earth and all her colonies**. Placed along the side of the armour were many flowers, mainly poppies, and photographs of Earth, other colonized worlds, but mainly of the UNSC personal who had died in fighting the Covenant and allowing Earth and Human race to survive and live on in the Milky Way. A small ramp led from the ramp to the ground. Standing at the top of the ramp was Hood, who was giving a salute, a final farewell to those who had died in the war. On the hillside around the memorial were many marines and Elites with a few civilians, some of who were also giving a salute to remember those who had died in the conflict.

Among the group on the hillside were Debbie and Hans. They were both giving salutes as they had known many people in the war who had not lived through it. It was a poignant scene, but they knew that all these people had not died in vain. Humanity had fought through the impossible and had lived to earn It's place in the universe.

"Present arms!" a nearby sergeant ordered.

A line of five marines near the memorial faced sideways and aimed their battle rifles up at the sky and fired a shot each.

Silence.

A second line of shots.

Silence.

A third and final line of shots. The 3-volley salute.

The group of Humans and Elites then walked away from the memorial, the Elites heading towards a group of phantoms parked a few metres behind them, the marines and civilians heading towards a line of parked passenger warthogs. Before they walked away, Hans and Debbie watched as the Arbiter, one of the leaders of the Elites walked up the ramp onto the crate next to Hood. With him was a tall woman with silver hair, a pretty face and an athletic body. It was Eve. On her shoulder was Auto, an intelligent A.I. Next to both of them was a strange Human with brown hair and was about six feet tall dressed in a kind of dark blue bodysuit with strange markings over it called Wally. A strange person, but, apparently, he had helped the UNSC and the Elites on the mission to the Ark.

"Let's go," Hans said.

Debbie nodded and walked with him over towards the warthogs, some of which were leaving. When they reached one of them, Hans climbed into the back and held out a hand for Debbie. She took it and he pulled her up into the warthog. 

"Thanks," she said as she sat down next to Hans. 

The two looked back at the memorial to see Hood towards the warthogs, the Arbiter walking towards a nearby phantom and Wally and Eve - When the two saw this, they smiled and felt happiness rise up through them. Wally and Eve were kissing whilst holding their hands.

"Love never has any boundaries," Debbie said as she watched the two withdraw from each other and hug each other tightly.

"We could do the same," Hans replied, looking at Debbie.

She turned to look at him and smiled. "Yeah," she said lovingly.

They leaned in towards each other and their lips locked in a passionate kiss. They were finally happy to be together again. They were both well and had been hurt but were reassured their injuries would heal soon so long as they looked after them. Behind them, some of the phantoms began to fly off into the air towards the Elite assault carrier _Shadow of Intent_, which was to soon fly off into the sky and join the remnants of the Elite fleet and head for their home world.

A slight chuckle made the two break apart quickly and blush embarrassingly as they saw Hood climb into the passenger seat of their warthog. A marine climbed into the driver's seat.

"By all means carry on," Hood told them encouragingly.

Debbie and Hans looked at each other for a moment as if confused. Then, they just shrugged and resumed their kiss. The marine in the driver's seat started the vehicle. The engine hummed loudly and he pressed his foot down on the accelerator and drove the warthog forward down the dirt track. Hans and Debbie stopped their kissing and looked lovingly into each other's eyes.

"I love you," Debbie whispered to him, making Hans smiled and embrace her tightly.

"I love you too," he replied, also whispered.

The two held their embrace for a few moments before they finally broke apart and looked back up at the hill to see Eve give a final salute to the Arbiter and Wally, who were standing in a phantom with it' side open. The side of the craft then closed and the phantom flew off into the air towards the _Shadow of Intent_. A warthog was still parked at the top of the dirt track, most likely for Eve and a few remaining marines.

"Well, this is it," Hans said.

Debbie nodded and smiled at Hans, which he returned. "Let's go home," she said. 

The warthog drove on towards the end of the track where a few pelicans were waiting, ready to take the survivors and their families back home to restart and rebuild their lives on Earth.


	46. Vadumee's story: Prologue

**Sanghelios, home world of the Elites.**

Sanghelios, a world covered with jungles that stretched far and wide, many of them being swamps, with large deserts around the middle of the planet and a large sea that covered just under one third of the surface of the planet. This world was home to hundreds of species of animals.

One of those species, which was the dominant on the planet, was the Sangheili, or better known as the Elites. They were a proud and fierce race, though not warlike. However, they were becoming so as they had joined the Covenant and right now the Covenant was at war with another race called 'Humans', who were an affront to the Covenant prophets and the gods they worshipped.

In a large clearing, one of the many across Sanghelios that had been made for Covenant drop ships, several Covenant phantoms were parked, hovering several metres above the ground, waiting to take the Elites to the ships hovering above the planet. From there, they would be taken to _High Charity_.

Already across the landing there were battalions of minor Elites, numbering twelve and arranged in square formation of four across and three down, with a major or an ultra Elite at their head. They were either organising themselves or following the orders of those at their heads, who were barking 'stand to' and 'at ready' orders at them.

Near a tall stone oval shaped tower, which was placed in the bottom right corner of the landing zone, with a large spire sticking out of the top and a kind of small balcony going around the middle of it where a doorway on the wall was, a group of four Elites emerged from the front entrance of the building towards the phantoms. Two of them were major Elites and were about 8ft 6 tall with red armour that looked as though it were new as it shined brightly in the morning sun, which hung in the cloudless yellow sky. Behind them were two more Elites, though they were dressed in different coloured armour. One was dressed in gold armour; the other walking next to him was dressed in silver armour.

The golden armoured Elite was known as Thel' Vadamee, a fleet commander in the Covenant. The silver armoured Elite was known as Rtas Vadumee, also a fleet commander, though he was a lower ranking one than Vadamee. The two were good friends. They had been brought up in the same clan when they were younger and had joined the Covenant, both had been filled with determination to serve their prophets and the Covenant cause for the Great Journey, and had risen through the ranks of soldiers to be ship commanders. They had returned to Sanghelios to see their wives but were now returning to space to continue the war against the Human race, which had been raging for about three months now.

"Stand ready!" one of the major Elites at the head of a nearby battalion of minor Elites barked and the minor Elites stood to attention, their feet together backs upright and head looking ahead as if they were statues. In their hands were energy sword activators.

Vadumee let out a respectful humph.

"They are well trained," he said. "They will be of good service in the Covenant,"

"Indeed they shall, shipmaster," one of the major Elites in front of him and Vadamee replied. "Some of our finest warriors from across our great world are here,"

"What I would like to know is that are they prepared to die for their cause to the Covenant?" Vadamee inquired, looking at the battalions as if they were cannon fodder.

"Yes, sire," the other major Elite replied. "They have all taken the Sacred Oath to fight for our cause and, if necessary, to die for our cause,"

"Good,"

Vadumee sighed quietly. He did not know why Vadamee only thought his service and the service of others to the Covenant was more important than their lives. He too, though, did believe that service in the quest to begin the Great Journey was important, but he did believe that their brothers here were not just cannon fodder ready to be thrown into battle expected to die. They were soldiers, some who were of rare talent and courage and many things they could do that most others could not, and they deserved to be treated as so, not as low lives.

The group reached the side of the phantom, which was open to allow the Elites to board, and the two major Elites climbed on. Vadamee stepped on but Vadumee placed a hand on his shoulder and stopped him from going any further into the ship. Vadamee turned to face him.

"Why must you ask whether our noble warriors are ready to die for our cause?" he asked him.

Vadamee sighed. "Vadumee," he said, gently pushing his friend's arm off him. "We are part of the Covenant now. We cannot expect to care for our soldiers. We must make sure they are prepared to lay down their lives for their leaders and the prophets whilst we continue or search in hopes of beginning the Great Journey,"

"Does laying down their lives also account for us?"

Vadamee did not reply to these words.

"Thel, I believe we should have at least some condolences for our men," Vadumee said to him as he climbed onto the phantom. "You and I know very well what happened to the Grunts and the Brutes in the past when we did not treat them fairly,"

Again, Thel did not reply, but he instead sighed and looked down at the ground. The old uprisings of the past filled his mind like water filling up a tank, but instead of replying to Vadumee, he turned and walked into the phantom, not even glancing back at Vadumee, who sighed and followed him in.

The side of the phantom closed and the craft hovered up into the air and flew off up into the sky, becoming a tiny dot that gradually grew smaller and smaller with every second to anyone watching them go on the ground before the object finally disappeared from sight.

Inside the cog pit of the craft, Vadamee and Vadumee stood behind the two pilots flying the ship, looking out through the window of the craft to the outside world. Gradually, the yellow sky became darker and darker until in front of them was an ever stretching blackness filled with trillions of stars. Then, several shapes became visible far head of them. They were enormous silver shaped ships with teaspoon-like fronts and eagle-like shaped rear sections with enormous engines sticking out of the back. Each of the craft being well over 10,000ft long. They were assault carriers. Around were hosts of smaller ships known as CCs battle cruisers. This was only part of the Covenant fleet.

Vadamee hmmed in appreciation.

"Our great fleet is un-matched," he muttered under his breath.

Vadumee gazed at the fleet with appreciation and amusement in his eyes as if he was seeing it for the first time. However, there was something he too was going to as well. It was the Covenant holy city _High Charity_, home world of the Prophets and the birthplace of the Covenant. It was a good time for him for it was the first time he was going there. He had rumours about it being a great place, and now he was going to see it for himself.


	47. High Charity

**Three hours later**

In the vastness of space, all was still and quiet. The stars shone brightly, lighting up the darkness of space and providing a chance of light to many other planets. In a way, the stars were like a ray of hope to any life out there as if to let them know that the darkness of the universe would always be kept back, even it took forever. Still, it just looked so peaceful. If only the war between Humanity and the Covenant was not happening, then it would be peaceful.

Then, all of a sudden, a white portal appeared and grew in size. Then, a large shape came out of it. It was a ship. It was a Covenant assault carrier. Behind and around it were more portals and out of them came more ships, either assault carriers or CCS battle cruisers. In total there were about fifty ships.

Far ahead of them was their destination. It was an enormous object, hundreds of time bigger than the assault carrier with a ball-like top like it was the top of the planet. However, coming out of the bottom of the ball like top was a huge spire that must have been thousands of miles long with millions of smaller spires sticking out of it. This was _High Charity_, once a planet that was home to the San 'Shyuum, which was the race of the Prophets, but a disaster had mostly destroyed it into the state it was in now. It was hard to imagine that this was a home world for the Covenant, or even the birthplace, but it was and hovering in front of _High Charity _were hundreds more Covenant ships, both assault carriers and CCS battle cruisers.

The first assault carrier led the fleet towards _High Charity_. They were to come here because of a showing of the many new Elite recruits that were joining the Covenant and they were to be shown to the prophets Truth, Mercy and Regret.

**Assault carrier bridge**

The bridge of the assault carrier was a large room with dark blue/dark purple coloured walls. In the middle of the room was a metallic silver chair, which a tall silver Elite was sitting on, that was hovering at the end of a kind of pathway that went from the entrance to the room, which was on the front wall of the bridge, to the chair. Around the walls were several control panels which several Elites, mainly consisting of minors, were working on. On the ceiling above the chair was a large window, which gave those in the bridge a clear of space and _High Charity_.

Standing near the captain's chair were several more Elites, among them Vadamee and Vadumee.

"_High Charity_!" the captain whispered as he gazed in awe at the city, opening his arms as if he was to embrace it.

"The birthplace of our Covenant," Vadamee muttered.

"It is amazing" Vadumee said, breathless as he took in the image of the city in front of him. 

It truly was. This was the first time he had seen the holy city and already he was breathless as he gazed at it. He could not believe that he was seeing it. This was the birthplace of the Covenant and it would forever be a holy site to It's followers.

"We must prepare those for our arrival," the captain said, turning to the group of Elites near him. "Prepare your men to depart the craft onto the city!" he ordered. "We must make sure everything is in order for our prophets' inspection,"

The Elites nodded and walked down the pathway towards the entrance to the room.

**Thirty minutes later**

The assault carrier docked on an enormous landing platform, which was several miles long and wide, that was several miles below the city, hovering about two or three hundred feet above the metallic surface of the landing platform. The large circular hole on the bottom of the craft was open and a gravity lift was activated, going down to the surface of the landing pad. Every few seconds, a battalion of Elites would hover down from the ship, a major Elite at their head, to the landing pad and would walk off towards a large pathway that led off the landing pad towards a kind of enormous silver wall about a mile or so away. High above the landing pad was a kind of huge metallic floor. Behind the assault carrier was space, but because the landing pad was connected to _High Charity_, the city's gravity kept it from floating off into space.

Standing near the gravity lift, watching more battalions hovered down from the ship to the landing pad, was Vadumee with Vadamee next to him. They were waiting for the rest of their force to come off the ship so they could take them to the city and prepare them for the prophets' arrival. Vadumee looked behind him up at the enormous wall and up at the huge floor far above them.

"It is amazing," he said.

"Yes, it is," Vadamee replied, glancing up at the metallic floor and the huge wall before looking back at the carrier. "The prophets will be pleased with this arrival of new warriors," he added.

When the last of the battalions had exited the ship, Vadamee and Vadumee walked over to the now 2,500 odd force of minor Elites in front of them. A few major Elites walked up to them.

"We are ready, sir," one of them said.

Vadamee nodded. "Follow us," he said.

The major Elite nodded and turned to the force of Elites. "Troops! March!"

A chorus of marching feet filled the air as the force of Elites walked down the pathway after Vadamee, Vadumee and the group of major Elites, all of them heading towards the enormous wall at the end of the pathway.

**Thirty minutes later**

The force of Elites had joined thousands more of their brothers in an enormous hall that looked to be about a mile wide and almost half as long. Just in front of the forward wall, about one hundred feet ahead of the Elites, was a large circular hole that led into a tunnel with several lights along the sides of the tunnel. Four huge open doorways were on the wall behind the Elites, each one leading out to a landing pad where an assault carrier was parked. The Elites were now arranged into square formations but instead of being in battalion strength, they were now numbering one hundred each going ten across and ten down. Altogether, there were about 250 square formations, equalling a total of 25,000 Elites.

Standing at the front of the middle of the enormous formation of Elites was Vadamee, Vadumee and several other silver and golden armoured Elites with about fifty major Elites. They were waiting for the prophets to arrive. The air was thick with anxiety as the Elites had to make sure everything was right as this was a presentation to the prophets and each wanted to do their best to impress them, especially Truth, the leader of the Covenant and the highest prophet. 

"I hope everything is in place," Vadamee whispered to Vadumee, who nodded in agreement.

"As do I," he replied. He was nervous. So nervous that a small bead of sweat began to drip down the front of his head and landed on the floor of the hall next to his foot. He took a deep breath to calm down. However, looking around with his eyes, he saw that a nearby major Elite was breathing deeply through his nose to keep himself calm. Every Elite in the room was waiting for the prophets to arrive, but some just wanted them to arrive now so they could get rid of their nervousness.

Then, as if obeying the Elites, a platform rose up into place at the top of the hole. On it were several Elites, though they were dressed in thick dark red armour with dark red crowns with golden linings around the sides on their heads. In their hands were metal spires with light red/light orange axe-like thing on the right side of it. There were about five of them. These were honour guard Elites. They were the guards to the prophets and were to be tasked with protecting the prophets with their very lives. They moved aside and the Elites, especially those at the front, held their breath.

There they were sitting in their hover thrones. The prophets each had oval shaped heads with large eyes with bushy eyelashes. Their skin was a dark brown, apart from the prophet on the right side of the platform as his was a kind of grey colour. They each had small brown beard-like lumps hanging from their chins. Thin necks that went at a kind of a curve went down from their heads to the rest of their body, which was covered in robes. Long thin arms came out of the sleeve of their robes and on the end of their arms were small palmed hands with long thin fingers. Each of them had a kind of golden crown with a pillar sticking out of the front of it. The middle prophet was Truth, to his right was Mercy, the oldest of the prophets and to his left was Regret.

Truth hovered forward off the platform with Mercy and Regret in tow. Following around them were the honour guard Elites. One of the silver armoured Elites, the captain of the assault carrier Vadumee and Vadamee had arrived to the city on, stepped forward and knelt down on one knee.

"Holy prophets," he said. "It is an honour to be here in your presence with my fleet. I hope you will be pleased with the recruits that have joined our cause,"

"I hope so as well," Truth replied, hovering off to the left and the Elite stood up and stepped back into the group at the front.

Vadumee watched him and the other prophets go. They were obviously a hard three to impress, especially Truth, though then again most leaders on his own home world and in their past had been the same. Truth was probably doing what he was doing now to try and make sure the Elites were in good order and to try and weed out any weaklings.

"I hope he will be impressed with our forces," Vadamee whispered to Vadumee. "I also hope they will not let our prophets down,"

"Do you still expect them to die for us?" Vadumee asked Vadamee.

Vadamee looked at him as if the answer was completely obvious "Yes,"

Vadumee sighed and looked down at the floor. Vadamee just did not understand that these Elites here were their brothers and that he should not expect them die like cannon fodder. It was going to take some time for him to realise that, only if he would allow himself to.

After about ten minutes, Truth, Regret and Mercy returned to the front of the force and faced the group at the front.

"Step forward, shipmaster," Truth said, raising his hand and moving it towards him as if he were mind controlling the Elite, who nodded and stepped forward, kneeling down on one knee. "Your soldiers are impressive," he said. "I hope they are prepared to die for us to defeat the Human menace,"

"Yes, noble prophet," the shipmaster replied. "I shall assure you of that,"

Truth smiled. "I sincerely hope so," he said. "We are done here, you are dismissed,"

"Yes, holy prophet, and thank you," the shipmaster replied, standing up and stepping back into the group. The prophets turned and hovered back over towards the platform, their Elite honour guards in tow.

"Back to the ships!" the shipmaster ordered and the Elites began to file out of the hall through the open doorways onto the pathways.

As Vadamee and Vadumee joined the rush, Vadumee looked over his shoulder back at the prophets as they hovered onto their platform. He began to feel…a bit edgy now after they had inspected the force of Elites. Truth saying that he hoped the Elites were prepared to die for their cause was making him feel uncomfortable, just as it had annoyed him when Vadamee had said the same thing. He had been expecting the prophets, or at least Truth, to see otherwise, but it was not the case.

Maybe coning to _High Charity_ was not going to be as good as he had thought. Turning his head back to look ahead of him, Vadumee walked out of the hall onto the pathway to head back towards the assault carrier.


	48. Space battle over Lupo

**Twenty days later**

**Date: June 26****th****, 2551**

Lupo, once a heavily populated planet of the Human colonized zones in the Niobe Aino system, but now it was mostly a smoking ruined world under siege by the Covenant. They had been fighting the Humans for this world for eighteen days and so far and so far, both sides had suffered heavy losses, but the Humans were definitely on the path to defeat. The Covenant were already glassing the planet, but were having problems with UNSC reinforcements coming to fight them in space.

At the moment, a battle was raging in space above Lupo. The UNSC had sent admiral Kincaid with his fleet of four battleships and two cruisers to link up with the ten UNSC frigates and three cruisers already defending Lupo and to try and drive off the Covenant ships and then land reinforcements on the planet and trap the Covenant soldiers there. However, Vadamee's fleet, with Vadamee being the leader of the invasion, was proving to be a hard nut to drive back, although they too were suffering badly as well and despite having almost three times as many ships as their UNSC enemies.

Luckily, Vadamee's old friend, Vadumee, was on his way with his own fleet of twelve assault carriers and twenty five CCS battle cruisers. He had received orders by the prophets to help Vadamee in fighting off the UNSC, something which Vadumee, however, despite the relationship between him and Vadamee, had not been very eager to do.

Their friendship had been strained recently. Since the gathering at _High Charity_, Vadamee had been more ignorant lately and had been hoping to be the first to go into battle before Vadumee, who was also eager to be the first out of the two to be launched into the war against the Humans, but the real reason was again to do with Vadamee's obsession and devotion to the Great Journey and was expecting more of his troops. Vadumee was also devoted much to the Great Journey as he was with his troops expecting to fight harder, but he knew when to stop, whereas Vadamee was pushing his forces too far, something which Vadumee did not like but could do nothing about. He knew Vadamee would not listen to him if he tried talking to him and the prophets would do nothing either for they were too preoccupied with this Great Journey. Vadumee was just going to have to let it continue and hope either something was eventually done or that Vadamee would see otherwise, but at the moment, none of the two likely outcomes seemed possible.

**Assault carrier **_**Honourable**_** bridge**

Sitting in the hiver chair in the middle of the bridge was Vadumee, looking out through the large window on the ceiling at the approached planet. His ship, the assault carrier _Honourable_, was a powerful craft and was one of the leading ships of the entire Covenant fleet and as he was on board it, the ship was the capital ship of his fleet.

Vadumee gazed at the world of Lupo with enviousness in his eyes. Lupo was a small world, as it was a moon, with mostly a countryside-like view. It had almost no desserts or jungles and had only one mountain range on the bottom of the planet. A large inland sea, about three hundred miles in length and about five hundred in width, was visible in the middle of the super continent that was Lupo's landmass. Just weeks ago, this planet had been a peaceful world with hundreds of small villages, towns and a few cities that were mainly built for cultural beauty with a total population of about 4.2 billion. Now, however, it was a warzone, so much so that even from where his fleet was, Vadumee could clearly see the darkened areas of the planet from where they had already been glassed by Vadamee's ships.

"This planet will soon fall to the might of our ships," he muttered under his breath.

"Shipmaster!" a nearby minor Elite working on a control panel exclaimed. "Enemy ships are within Vadamee's fleet!"

Vadumee's eyes widened and looked out through the bridge's window again to see several small shapes gradually grow larger as they approached the planet. He saw the assault carriers and CCS battle cruisers of Vadamee's fleet and the many smaller ships that were those of the UNSC fleet. The minor Elite, however, had been right. Many of the Human ships were mixed among the Covenant fleet. There was no doubt that this fight was going to be hard.

Just then, a holographic haze appeared on the end of the armrest of Vadumee's chair and it began to form a figure. After a second, it had formed an Elite. It was Vadamee.

_"Vadumee!" _he exclaimed in a relieved tone. _"My brother, I am glad you have come to my aid!"_

Vadumee nodded. "I was not going to let you have all the fun in taking this wretched Human planet!" he said, though his mind felt a stabbing pain from within as he was lying. "I shall assist you by any means necessary,"

Vadamee nodded. _"Thank you, my brother. I shall send some of my ships to aid you whilst you deal with the Humans,"_

Vadumee nodded in agree-wait, what! Vadamee was not going to unleash his entire fleet onto the Humans alongside Vadumee's? How could he do that, but before Vadumee could question his decision, Vadamee's holographic image disappeared from the armrest. Vadumee growled and pounded a fist in the arm rest.

_A good brother he is, isn't he! _He thought angrily as he looked up through the bridge's window at the fleet again. Now several pillars of smoke were rising from some of the ships and the remains of several ships, both Human and Covenant, along with the remains of several UNSC orbital defence space platforms that had been destroyed in the first days of the battle by mass Covenant boarding parties, hung in space, no more of any use to both sides. A few blasts and projectiles shot past the window, though thankfully they were far away.

This was it. Vadumee was leading his fleet into battle for the first time.

"Order the fleet to scatter!" he barked at a nearby minor Elite.

"Yes, Shipmaster!" the minor Elite replied and he began typing in a code on the control panel to order the ships of Vadumee's fleet to separate.

Vadumee looked through the window again and began searching for an easy target among the Humans ships. If there was one thing he knew about fighting in battle, if you could take out the main enemy ship, or ships, then you would throw the remnants of the enemy into confusion and they would doomed to be destroyed. That was what he was trying to find

Then, his eyes rested on a nearby craft. It was a UNSC frigate and it was heading towards one of the CCS battle cruisers of his fleet.

"Prepare to intercept that frigate!" he ordered, pointing at the enemy ship.

"Yes, Shipmaster," a few Elites around the bridge replied in unison.

**POV from space**

The UNSC frigate, _Hera_, was a new ship to the UNSC fleet, built in 2532, it was a fast ship, as were all the UJNSC frigates. However, the Hera had earned a bit of a reputation with itself already in the war. In the first week of the war, it had engaged and successfully destroyed a CCS battle cruiser and badly damaged another in a space battle near Vorgra, but had been badly damaged itself during the battle and called back for repairs. It was not until about a week ago when it had flown alongside the UNSC battleship _Axiom_, one of the pride ships of the UNSC fleet,about ten days ago when it had arrived to help drive off the Covenant fleet attacking Lupo and had led three CCS battle cruisers into a trap to which all were destroyed by the _Axiom_ and It's powerful arsenal of weapons. However, afterwards, the ship had been damaged at the engines and on the left side, to which had caused it to be called away from the battle for repairs, also out of fear by the UNSC High Command that they would lose one of the pride ships of the UNSC fleet. Since then, the _Hera_ had been launched at the Covenant fleet several times to try and weaken them, but had not really had much success.

Now, however, It's captain, captain Shimon from Tel Aviv in Israel, was determined to make sure _Hera _would finally have some success against the Covenant, and right now a Covenant CCS battle cruiser was right in his sights. It was a perfect target.

**Bridge of the **_**Hera**_

The bridge of the _Hera_ was like any other bridge from a UNSC frigate. It was large and square shaped with control panels going around the walls. The walls, floor and ceiling were silver coloured. A large rectangular window was on the forward wall. In the middle of the bridge was a seat for the captain and on the back wall was an entrance to the bridge that led out into a corridor.

Sitting in the seat was a tall man with blonde hair, brown eyes and a small beard growing on his chin. He was dressed in a grey UNSC captain's uniform. It was captain Shimon. Around him on the control panels were workers.

"Sir, the main cannons are ready," a nearby worker on a control panel said.

"Good, prepare to fire," Shimon replied as he looked out at the CCS battle cruiser which was about to blown into smithereens.

Suddenly, a dark shadow swept over the bridge. Shimon's eyes went wide, as did most of the eyes of the workers. What was going on?

"What's making that shadow?" Shimon demanded.

"We don't know, sir," a nearby worker replied.

"Wait!" another nearby worker exclaimed as he pulled a switch on the control panel and a holographic overview of the ship and what was outside it appeared. His eyes widened. "Oh my God!" he gasped.

"What is it?" Shimon asked, running over to the control panel. When he reached it, his eyes too went wide at what he was seeing.

It…It was…a Covenant assault carrier, and it was hovering directly over the _Hera_.

"Get the ship away from it!" Shimon ordered. "Hu-"

He was suddenly cut off when the bridge was engulfed in fire.

**POV from space**

The assault carrier _Honourable _had hovered into position over the UNSC frigate as it had moved to attack the CCS battle cruiser with almost no warning from any other ships. The _Honourable's _glassing beam had then activated and, with one full powered blast, struck the middle of the ship and sent fire shooting in all directions down the corridors of the ship's interior, blowing out huge holes in the sides, front and rear, one explosion even blowing off an engine. The craft broke in tow and drifted away from each other, never to be reunited as one.

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

Vadumee smiled as he watched, through a holographic that emitted out from the armrest of his hover chair, the _Hera_ explode in a fireball and break in two. That was one enemy ship out of the way, but there were many more to deal with, but at least the destruction of one enemy frigate brought them that much closer to victory. Vadumee began to scour space again searching for another worthy target like an eagle scouring the desert, searching for a meal. After a few moments, his eyes rested on another worthy target. This time it was a cruiser, the _Atlantis_, a well armoured ship built in 2500 and, despite It's age and general primitiveness according to some fleet commanders in the UNSC, very powerful. Alongside it came another frigate, the _Caspian_, which was about half the size of the _Atlantis_, as were all UNSC frigates compared to cruisers, to give it support.

"Prepare to attack the enemy cruiser!" Vadumee ordered. "Contact the captain of the battle cruiser _Injustice _and order him to attack from the side!"

"Yes, shipmaster,"

Vadumee looked back up through the window and smiled slightly. This was the first time he was going up against a cruiser. Huh, only his first day and already he was going up against the big guns of the enemy. Well, he was going to make sure it was one engagement with the enemy he would not forget and he was definitely going to make sure that he would win.

**POV from space**

The _Honourable _and the _Atlantis _approached each other like male lions preparing to fight one another control of a pride, this case control of the pride meant control of the battle. Alongside both ships were their support ships. The _Caspian _almost overtook the _Atlantis _like a warrior eager to get into the fight whilst the _Injustice _hovered below the _Honourable_, hoping to attack them from below, pretty much ignoring Vadumee's orders to attack them from the side. Both sides approached each other with wariness and fear, despite the two looking as though they were ready to fight. Even Vadumee, when he had given the order to attack and was filled with eagerness to claim another victory, was nervous because he knew that although his ship was just about twice as long and large as the _Atlantis_ and had much more firepower and thicker armour, it did not mean that the _Atlantis _would not be able to inflict any damage on his own ship. For all he knew, this battle could end up with the ship being disabled and no longer usable, and if the command ship was lost, as he had mentally told himself earlier on, then his own fleet would be launched into a state of chaos and confusion. Something he very dearly hoped to avoid.

Finally, as the two sides approached each other, they were set on their heels when the _Caspian_ made the first move.

The frigate suddenly flew forwards towards the _Honourable_as if it was going to try and launch a kamikaze attack on the craft. Then, when it was about a mile or so from the craft, it stopped and fired a projectile at the bottom front of the craft.

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_**. **

The ship shook slightly as the projectile collided with the armour of the ship. Vadumee grunted as he was thrown back hard into his seat.

"Damage report!" he ordered.

"Shipmaster, we have taken heavy damage to our front bottom armour," one of the minor Elites replied. "The… The enemy are preparing to fire again, shipmaster!" the Elite said, panic in his voice.

"What are we to do?" another minor Elite said, also in a panicked voice.

"Silence!" Vadumee barked, silencing the two Elites. "Keep control of yourselves. Order the _Injustice _to strike at the enemy frigate, now!"

"Yes, Shipmaster,"

**POV from space**

The battle cruiser _Injustice_ ascended towards the _Caspian_. When it was about a mile from the bottom of the craft, it stopped and two spires began to glow bright purple and a large purple ball began to grow between them. After about five seconds, the spires stopped glowing and the large purple ball shot out towards the _Caspian_, striking it in the underbelly of the ship. A tremendous explosion rocketed the craft as fires shot along It's corridors, blowing open holes in the escape pods and blowing off the engines. The ship came to a halt and the large main cannon at the front, just as it prepared to fire again, suddenly died. Then, another explosion broke the ship in two, lighting up the battle with a fiery glow, and the remains floated away from each other, the ship having suffered the same fate as It's sister ship, the _Hera_.

With the threat of the frigate out of the way, the two ships now turned their attention to the _Atlantis_, which was now virtually defenceless without the support from others.

**Bridge of the Atlantis**

The bridge of the _Atlantis_ was a large square shape with a large cube block in the middle of the room. Around the sides of the block were control panels with workers on them. Around the walls of the bridge were more control panels. At the front of the bridge, staring out of the large window, was a tall man dressed in a grey UNSC captain's uniform. The man had black hair, blue eyes and a small moustache. His name was captain Aston, a British UNSC officer who had been born on Takra, but whose family originated from London.

He had a small scar going down his forehead above his right eye and stopping just above his eyelid. He had received that wound from a piece of shrapnel that had launched itself into him when he was on a base on Idlem, the moon of Vorgra, and the Covenant attacked and a blast exploded on a stockpile of projectile shells near him and one piece had been launched into his face. The doctor who had treated him told him he had been lucky as the piece of shrapnel had only just missed his eye, which would have resulted in it being removed it had struck it .

Right now, Aston was watching with horror in his eyes as he watched the _Caspian _be blown in two by the CCS battle cruiser's powerful weaponry. He was now up against an assault carrier and a CCS battle cruiser! Even though his ship could match that of the assault carrier, he was not planning on going up against two enemy ships at the same time.

"Sir, what are we to do?" a nearby worker frantically asked him as he ran over to the captain, also looking out with fear at the enemy ships.

Aston sighed and turned his head to face the worker. "Turn the ship around," he ordered. "We must link up with admiral Kincaid,"

The worker nodded. "Yes, sir," he said and he turned and shouted out: "Okay, turn the ship around. Captain's orders," and the other workers began moving frantically to get the ship to turn and get away from the Covenant as quickly as they could.

**POV from space**

Unfortunately, they were just not moving quick enough

The _Honourable_ moved forward full speed, hovering above the _Atlantis_ as it began to turn to port, desperate to make an escape. The _Honourable_, as it had done with the _Hera_, was planning on firing a glassing beam at the ship, which would neutralize it. Probably not to the extent as it had done with the _Hera_, but enough to stop the ship from re-entering the battle and posing a threat.

The _Injustice's_ spires glowed purple once again and another large ball began to form between them. Five seconds passed and the spires stopped glowing and the ball of energy shot out from between them towards the Atlantis. The deadly ball of energy stuck the rear of the ship and at once, it halted where it was, stopping at a 270 degree angle, completely exposing It's small, but vulnerable escape pod side entrances to the enemy ships.

**Bridge of the Honourable**

Vadumee smiled as he looked at the holographic image of his ship and the enemy ship, which his hovering directly over it, the hole from where the deadly glassing beam would be fired from directly over the centre of the ship. He growled in delight and looked over at the minor Elites who were working on the control panels that controlled the glassing beam.

"We are in position, sire," one of them said, looking over his shoulder at Vadumee.

"Fire at will!" Vadumee ordered.

The Elite nodded and set about preparing the beam to fire. Vadumee turned his attention back to the holographic screen emitting from his armrest and waited for the deadly beam to strike the enemy ship.

Suddenly, another purple beam shot down past the window, which lit up the bridge and made Vadumee along with most of the Elites in the bridge look up at it, and the light of an explosion followed from the bottom right. Vadumee went wide-eyed and looked back down at his the holographic image to see the enemy cruiser with a huge gaping hole in the top of it. A few explosions erupted along the sides and blew out the escape pods. Vadumee watched in disbelief.

"_Not bad, do you not think, Vadumee?" _a voice asked from the bridge's built in radio com that was to allow contact to be restored from ship to ship. Vadumee instantly recognized it.

"Thel!" he gasped. "I thought you were leading your troops on the planet below!" he added, a hint of jealousy and anger in his voice.

"_I was, but they were doing well on their own as the Human meddlers began to flee from our overwhelming firepower,"_ he replied. _"And, plus, I just wanted to make sure that all of our enemies were destroyed,"_

A large shadow descended over the bridge and Vadumee looked up to see the bottom of another assault carrier pass overhead, no doubt that was Vadamee's ship. Vadumee growled. Vadamee was becoming a very big nuisance to him and just now, he had said he wanted make sure all of their enemies were destroyed, which sounded like he did not think Vadumee could be able to do such a task. Vadamee's attitude and belief towards the Covenant were heaving a serious strain on their friendship. He was even beginning to believe that it might even end it if this carried on.

"_Come Vadumee!" _came Vadamee's voice again. _"Let us wipe out the rest of these vermin and achieve victory!"_

Vadumee sighed and watched as Vadamee's craft hovered off back into the fray and, taking one last look at the wreckage of the _Atlantis_, ordered his ship to follow.

These two apparent friends were now on the path of war with not only Humanity, but with each other as well.


	49. Battle of Takra begins

**Date: August 1****st****, 2551**

**Location: 6000 miles above Takra, Niobe Aino system**

Takra, the largest planet ever to be colonized by Humanity. It's size was twice that of Jupiter and it's territories were boundless. Hundreds of forests, lakes, mountains, swamps and such were scattered across the surface of the planet. It's population had been between 27-30 billion several months ago and it had been given the nickname 'New Earth' as more people looked to the planet for a new home for them.

However, the war between the Covenant and Humanity had changed all that. Takra's population had risen from between 27-30 billion to about 36 billion as the flow of refugees from worlds such as Kurar, Eucia I, Eucia II and Lupo to Takra increased as the Covenant pushed Humanity back through the Niobe Aino system. The UNSC presence here was increasing as well as they hoped to try and make a stand and end the Covenant assault. It was risky though because the Covenant would start glassing the planet whenever they could get a chance and, plus, the amount of refugees on the planet was much higher than the UNSC had anticipated, therefore making transport ships scarce in other regions of the colonized systems as the UNSC had to evacuate the population quickly in order to minimize the amount of civilian casualties that would be caused by the fighting. They had hoped that it would be done within a few weeks using the transport ships. Even a few UNSC military ships were used to help in moving the civilians from Takra.

However, time was one thing that was not on Humanity's side.

Far above the great world, a Covenant fleet of many large ships were moving straight towards the planet. There were hundreds of them, a mixture of assault carriers and CCS battle cruisers. They were here in large numbers to inflict as many casualties on the Humans as possible, both military and civilians.

Leading them, near the middle of the front of the fleet, was their capitol ship. The assault carrier _Honourable._

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

Sitting in his hover chair, Vadumee looked out through the bridge window at the large approaching planet. His eyes gleamed with eagerness as they neared it. Takra was the 'capitol planet' of the Niobe Aino system and therefore whoever attacked and took it would be a great example to the entire Covenant. As the ships approached, Vadumee could make out the large shapes of the UNSC orbital defence platforms hovering above the planet. They were to be the first line of defence against a Covenant invasion.

"They will be no trouble," Vadumee muttered under his breath as he gazed at them.

The battle above Lupo had been a great victory for the Covenant. This admiral Kincaid of the Humans had been killed when his battleship, the _Independence _was struck by two different glassing beams from Vadumee and Vadamee's ships. The rest of his fleet that had come to reinforce the defenders was also destroyed, along with most of the fleet that had already been at the planet trying to defend the planet from the Covenant. Two days later, the planet was finally cleared of Human resistance. It was another victory for the Covenant in the war against Humanity.

However, a new kind of war had been born in this battle, though this one was being fought between two individuals of the Covenant rather than two species. Those two were Vadumee and Vadamee.

Vadumee had been furious with Vadamee when he had ordered the attack on the _Independence_ by three of his (Vadamee) CCS battle cruisers. These being battle cruisers against a fully armoured battleship that was the capitol of the Human fleet, they were almost no match despite outnumbering it and all three were destroyed. This action had infuriated Vadumee but he did not say anything for the prophets were already ordering the next phase of the war to go ahead. That phase was the attack on Eucia and Eucia II whilst a small force was to already attack Takra and now Vadumee's fleet was going to join those two CCs battle cruisers that had been sent to Takra several months earlier.

Vadumee sighed. He was still friends with Vadamee, but he just wished that he would stop believing that their brothers had to sacrifice themselves in this Great Journey. Fighting in this war _for _it was enough, but sacrificing for the Great Journey was another thing. He would just have to hope that the prophets, and Vadamee saw otherwise.

"Shipmaster!" one of the minor Elites working on a control panel said, causing Vadumee to look at him. "The Humans are sending a few measly craft to attack us! What are your orders?"

"Order all cruisers and carriers to sire at will," he replied. The Elite nodded and Vadumee looked back out through the bridge window and muttered:

"We shall burn this wretched world!"


	50. An enemy survivor

**Two months later**

**Date: October 9****th****, 2551**

**Location: Tesharia Mountains, Vorkuta province, Takra**

**250 miles west of Rodum. **

In the skies above the mountains of the Tesharia area, the Covenant assault carrier _Honourable _hovered in air as if it was frozen in place. Below the craft, some of the mountains had changed colour from being grey to being either black or pale white and some had smoke emanating from them. The ground around the bottom and between the mountains were also scorched and looked as if they were deserts. A few trees near the bottom of one of the mountains were burning.

The _Honourable _had attacked a UNSC base built within the mountain range in order to prevent any civilians from escaping to the safety of the base and to also stop any chance of attacking the Covenant that would soon be laying siege to Rodum and the surrounding areas. The attack had been a success as the ship had arrived unknowingly at the mountain region and had begun firing glassing beams down onto the mountains to damage the base and confuse those inside it. Then, an army of Covenant was sent in to secure the base and they left no survivors. Whilst they were there, they were able to discover a hanger used for the stalker craft that were used in the UNSC's ER division and they destroyed it. Unfortunately, for the Covenant though, most of the ER, save for about two girls who had been killed in the hanger, had been absent during the attack and they were unlikely to be around here anytime soon. This was a bit of an annoying thing for Vadumee to hear as the ER was a constant nuisance to the Covenant. They were always spying on their fleet movements and it was them that had led to the destruction of one of his assault carriers, the _Deity_, as it was heading towards Sukuki city from the Iylar province earlier on in the month. Vadumee had been seething with anger when he had received this news and had been vowing to get revenge on the ER since.

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

Vadumee was standing on the floor below the pathway that went from the door to the hover chair, looking over a small oval shaped platform with a top that had a holographic image of the planet below on it. Around the table with him were several other Elites, three majors and two zealots. Around the walls, working on the controls panels, were minor Elites.

"The entire mountainside with the main sections of the base has crumbled from within, Shipmaster," one of the majors said. "We also managed to stop a group of Human meddlers from escaping on one of their warthog filth machines,"

"Excellent," Vadumee replied. "Has the entire base been cleared?" he asked.

"As far as we know, yes," another of the major Elites answered.

"We shall soon go to ground with a strike force and scout out and see if there is anything within the mountains that may be of any use to the Great Journey," one of the zealots replied.

Vadumee nodded and looked back at the holographic mountains. His attack had been ruthless and quick. As far as reports said from the troops that had gone into the underground base, no one had survived or escaped. Every Human that had been in the base at the time of attack was killed, including several wounded. As horrible as that did sound, the Covenant did not want any Humans alive, though this was mostly through orders from their prophets.

Vadumee, however, had been a bit questionable about those types of orders. I mean, he did not like the Humans and, like the prophets and the Covenant, he saw them as an affront to their Gods, but killing their wounded, especially those of their warriors who were willing to save their families and friends, was…was very different to killing the Human warriors who had not been wounded. It felt…a little bad, horrible even as if it was a heartless action, which, to Humanity, it was and it would only fuel their hatred to each other and they would probably want to do the same to the Covenant when they would get the chance, which, in turn, would only fuel the fires of anger in the Covenant to a more dangerous level.

"We shall prepare our landing forces," the other zealot said as he and his brother walked away from the table. "And I hope they had returned with the right information this time," he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Vadumee to hear him.

Vadumee just rolled his eyes and turned to one of the major Elites, who was standing next to him.

"Order two banshees to patrol the skies around the landing zone for the Elites," he said to which the Elite nodded at and walked off to give out the order.

"Shipmaster!" another of the major Elites exclaimed suddenly, making Vadumee jump slightly, and he turned to look at the Elite.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Look!" the Elite replied, pointing down at one of the holographic mountains.

Vadumee looked but saw nothing. He squinted his eyes to get a closer look and saw a tiny dot moving just on the mountainside.

"Zoom in on that," Vadumee ordered.

One of the major Elites pressed a small button on the side of the table and the holographic mountain Vadumee was looking at seemed to grow as it took over the entire top of the table. Vadumee looked again on the mountain and went wide-eyed when he saw that the tiny dot was actually a Human. A woman dressed in a white bodysuit! She was walking away from, what looked like, a small entrance in the side of the mountain.

"One of them!" he growled as anger filled him.

"She must have hidden somewhere when our soldiers attacked," one of the major Elites said, also growling a little.

"What are we to do, sir?" the other asked Vadumee.

"I will deal with her myself!" Vadumee growled and he walked away from the table towards the entrance door to the bridge.

He was seething with anger, so much so that his hands were beginning to shake a little as he walked and his breathing got a little heavier. These Human ER members had been a constant nuisance to him and his fleet and they had allowed the UNSC fleet to destroy the _Deity_. Now, however, it was payback time! He was going to get that ER member and he was going to make her pay dearly!


	51. A mark of war

**Ten minutes later**

A phantom hovered down from the _Honourable _towards a small plateau on the side of the mountain. When it was about ten feet above the plateau, the craft stopped in mid-air and the large circle section on the bottom of the craft opened up and a cylindrical purple coloured gravity lift emanated down from the craft to the ground. Then, five tall and bulky figures hovered down from the phantom to the rock ground below them. They were Elites. Vadumee was among them. With him were four major Elites. All of them were armed with energy swords, which were already activated.

"Separate and find that Human girl and kill her!" Vadumee said to the Elites. "And be wary, she may be armed,"

"Yes, Shipmaster," the four major Elites replied in unison.

The group split up from each and walked off towards the corners of the plateau, walking up or down the sides of the mountain. Vadumee walked on ahead towards a tiny stony pathway that led off from the front of the plateau. Behind him, the noise of the engines of the phantoms whirred loudly as the craft hovered back up into the air towards the _Honourable_.

As Vadumee walked on up the stony path, he began to look around, scanning every piece of the mountainsides around him. It was not hard to tell that he was very content in finding and killing this Human girl and he _really_ wanted to do it because she was part of an organisation that was a complete nuisance to the Covenant, especially their fleets. They had already lost one ship to them so far in the campaign for Takra and Vadumee was not prepared to take the risk. It was lucky for him today, however, that they had found a base here in the mountains with an ER unit here. Although most of the ER here had been absent during the attack, two of them, along with their stalker aircraft, had been destroyed. Obviously now, though, one more was also present here and had hidden from the Covenant troops that had been sent into the base and was now probably trying to escape. Well, Vadumee had other plans. She was going to die here along with her two comrades. Hopefully, this would deter the ER from continuing their recon missions against the Covenant fleets.

Vadumee walked on down the path, which began to dip down slightly. Ahead of him was a small cliff line which towered over a valley that was very far below him. A few rocks were on both sides of the top of the dip in the pathway.

Vadumee skidded down the pathway to the bottom. A small landslide of loose stones and rocks was made by his feet as he moved down it. When he reached the bottom of the pathway, he looked around. A small pathway led left and it went down at a bit of an angle along the rock wall to the bottom of the valley far below.

He stepped over towards the edge of the cliff, stopping about five feet from it, and he looked over the edge. The bottom of the valley was about six hundred feet below and it was covered in sheer rock from where Vadumee could see. A deadly place to fall down but then again it was quite a good place to hide, especially as the bottom of the valley was pale white and the woman's bodysuit was white as well so if she had decided to flee down there, then it would be a hard search.

_Best get started _Vadumee mentally said to himself. _I wonder what surprises she will have in store for me down th-_

"AAAAHHHH!"

Suddenly, Vadumee was thrown forward, landing painfully on his front. A small cloud of dust was thrown up from the ground where he had fallen. He groaned as he turned over onto his back and rubbed the front of his face.

Then, he saw the legs of something, no _someone _standing over him. He looked at them and saw that they were not Elite legs. They were not bulky and covered in armour. They were quite thin and were covered by a white bodysuit with boots that were part of the bodysuit. His eyes followed the legs up to a waist, then a torso, where the bodysuit also covered, with a pair of arms, all but the hands also being covered by the bodysuit, and then a head. It was a young woman with black hair, blue eyes and soft cheeks. She looked to be about twenty or twenty one and she was glaring down at him. In her hand was an M6C pistol.

"Surprised you didn't I," she said to Vadumee.

Vadumee growled and, without warning, swung his leg into hers. She screamed as she was knocked off her feet and fell hard onto the ground on her side. Vadumee quickly shot up from the ground, grabbing his energy sword, which had been knocked out of his hand when he had been pushed over, and swung it upwards and then brought it down. The woman screamed and rolled over out of the way.

"Stay still, you meddler!" Vadumee growled as she shot up from the ground and pointed her weapon at him.

"Why, am I getting to you, split lip?" she asked mockingly, but kept the glare on her face.

Vadumee growled. "Wise words from someone who's head is about to become my trophy,"

"You want my head, then why don't you come and get it,"

Vadumee gritted his teeth in anger and charged towards her and swung his energy sword at her, but she dodged the attack and quickly retaliated by jumping up and launching her foot into Vadumee's mouth, hitting him in the left mandibles. Vadumee roared and staggered sideways, placing a hand on his mandibles. When the pain had subsided, he growled and looked up at her, glaring madly.

"You will pay for that you meddler!" he growled.

"Then come and get me, split lip," she replied.

That seemed to make Vadumee explode because he charged towards her and swung his weapon at her, but she dodged the attack again by diving sideways and fired a shot from her pistol at him, hitting him and lighting up his armour's shield. Vadumee charged towards her, bringing back his energy sword to strike at her again.

She dived again, though this time it was too early. Vadumee anticipated her move and swung his weapon at her. The tip of the deadly energetic blades sliced into her shoulder. Blood trickled from the wound down the sleeve and chest of her bodysuit, turning it into a scarlet colour. She screamed loudly as she fell to the floor and staggered to her feet, clutching her shoulder tightly.

"You bastard!" she hissed.

"Oh, rest assured, that is only the first I will inflict on you," Vadumee replied.

He charged towards her again, bringing back his energy sword again to swing at her. However, just as he was about to swing his weapon towards her, she, wincing as her movement hurt the wound on her shoulder very badly, ducked, only just narrowly avoiding having her head taken off, and launched a kick up at Vadumee's arm, hitting him in the elbow. Vadumee roared in pain, failing to notice his energy sword fly out of his hand into the air as it was launched out of his hand by the woman's kick at him. As Vadumee clasped his other hand around his injured elbow, the woman jumped up and grabbed his energy sword. However, just as she landed on the ground, Vadumee launched himself at her, pushing her to the ground.

"Give me my energy sword, you meddler!" he growled at her.

"Then come and get it," the woman replied in a defiant, but also scared voice despite having both of their weapons.

Vadumee growled again and stepped towards her. The woman went wide-eyed and began to back away towards the cliff, which she was suddenly stopped by a moment later. She looked over her shoulder, terrified, at the sheer drop below. If she fell down there, then she was as good as dead.

It then hit her that that could happen, because she was trapped between the cliff and Vadumee!

"I am going to tell you once more!" Vadumee said to her. "Give me my energy sword and I will your death painless!"

The woman looked at him and glared, obviously to say no. She was not going to give up, not that easily, even if was a matter of life and death because if you looked at the situation, she could die anyway.

"I said: give it to me!" Vadumee barked at her, anger in his voice.

"You want it?" she replied, making Vadumee clench his hands into fists. "Then come and take it, you

split lip bastard!"

At once, something inside Vadumee seemed to explode like a super volcano erupting violently. He was being humiliated by a Human, and it was not even a Human warrior, just a foolhardy scout! This was an insult! Oh, he had had enough and he was going to hurt her dearly!

Vadumee, like an enraged bull, charged towards her, anger fuelling in his eyes like a raging fire. He swung his fist at herm but the woman ducked and swung the energy sword up at his face. Vadumee's eyes went wide but before he could stop her…

"**AAAAARRRRRGH!"**

The woman watched in shock as Vadumee staggered backwards, almost falling over, slamming his hands on the side of his face. Purple blood began to seep through the gaps between his fingers. He roared in pain and bent over slightly.

Then he moved his hand, and the damage was revealed.

Purple blood began to drip from the side of his face to the ground, forming a small pool. His hands looked as though they had tried to change colour and then stopped suddenly. The woman stared at the side of his face and actually felt a little sick. She even felt a little sorry for him.

Vadumee glared as he looked up at her and wiped the side of his face again. However, when his fingers touched the wound, his eyes went wide and he gasped a little and touched it repeatedly.

The mandibles on the left side of his face. They…they were gone! She had taken them off him using his own weapon! Oh, that was a _**very**_ big mistake!

Vadumee felt like a supernova had exploded inside him. His anger adrenaline surged through his body like a fast moving river. He was seething, no blazing with anger. His fists began to shake violently.

Suddenly, he charged towards the woman so fast that she barely had time to raise her weapon before he grabbed her by the neck and head butted her as hard as she could. She screamed in pain as the edges of his helmet cut into her cheeks and they bled a little. He then threw her to the floor as hard as he could and she yelled out as she landed on her back.

"P-please!" she gasped in pain. "St-stop!"

Vadumee only growled and slammed his foot down onto her hand. She screamed again as she felt like her hand was crumbling beneath his foot. Vadumee then grabbed her by the neck and, with an almighty grunt, threw her over the side of the cliff. The woman screamed and it carried down the valley as if it had been amplified louder. It gradually got quieter as she fell away from the cliff and then, after about five or so seconds, stopped abruptly.

Vadumee's teeth were gritted as hard as they could go as if he was trying to break them. His fists were clenched and shaking furiously and a look of utmost fury hung on his face. His breaths were heavy. He roared loudly and that too carried up and down the valley as if he were a wrestler yelling in victory after winning a fight.

He had made that woman pay and he turned and walked back towards the landing zone. What was surprising was that he was suddenly calm now as if nothing had ever happened, though his anger was still concealed inside him and there was no telling if it would strike again like it just had done now.


	52. A mark of shame

**Ten minutes later**

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

Vadumee walked down the corridor towards the bridge of the _Honourable_. He was groaning in pain as he kept touching the wound on the side of his face with his hand. Purple blood was stained across the side of his helmet and it hurt every time he moved his mouth.

Inside, though, under the pain and agony, he was seething with anger and fury. That woman, that ER member, she had left a horrific wound on him and had almost taken off both of his left mandibles completely, and with his own energy sword! He was lucky, though, that the energy sword had not driven further into his head or he could have been killed. Oh, he was at least, relieved that he had killed that woman as well, and he had enjoyed doing it for what she had done to him.

As the door to the bridge opened, Vadumee saw several major Elites standing around the table that he had been standing over earlier on. As soon as the door to the bridge opened, their head turned to look at him. Several minor Elites working on the control panels around the bridge also turned to look at him.

"Shipmaster!" one of the major Elites said in a kind of relived tone, running over to him. "We feared that you have been killed! Thank the prophets that you-"

The Elite stopped when he saw that Vadumee's left mandibles were almost completely missing. He stared at them and Vadumee growled.

"What happened, Ship-" the major Elite began but Vadumee cut him off.

"That is of no importance!" he barked, promptly silencing the Elite. "Get back to your station! And that goes for all of you!"

The minor Elites did as they were told. The major Elite held his position for a moment longer but after Vadumee's eyes narrowed at him, telling him that he was serious, the major Elite quickly rushed back over to the table. Vadumee walked up the pathway towards his chair and sat down in it when he reached it.

"What is your next course, Shipmaster?" a nearby minor Elite asked.

"Head away from this area!" Vadumee barked. "Just try and join up with our main fleet, and be quick about it!"

"Yes, Shipmaster!"

Vadumee winced slightly as he touched his wound again, looking out through the bridge window at the sky above the glassed mountain area. Anger filled with like water filling up a tank. That woman had left a mark on him. A mark of shame! He knew that the prophets would not be pleased about this when they heard that one of their fleet commanders, Elites who were deemed to be highly trained and disciplined and who receiving an injury on them was almost unheard of, had been injured. What was worse was that other fleet commanders and Covenant soldiers, most of which he feared from his own kind, that would see him as a disgrace. At least, though, he would have the fact that he had killed the Human who had injured him.

Vadumee groaned and pounded his other fist hard on the armrest of his chair as he touched the wound again. It still hurt, but he had to make sure it did not get to him and he looked up through the window again at the sky as it passed overhead as the _Honourable _moved away from the mountains.

It would forever be a place of insult for Vadumee for what that ER member had done to him and he would not forget it at all.


	53. The end of the Battle of Takra

**Three months later**

**January 23****rd****, 2552**

**6000 miles above Takra**

Moving away from the enormous planet that was once deemed the 'New Earth' of the Niobe Aino system and the most populated planet within the system was a fleet of forty assault carriers and about one hundred CCS battle cruisers. This was the largest Covenant fleet ever to have attacked a Human planet so far in the war. However, the quick and easy victory they had expected had instead resulted into a long and drawn out conflict that had lasted several months until the last UNSC stronghold on the planet, Fuldure city, which had been half the size of Singapore island with a population of about ten million people, was destroyed and glassed by the Covenant. This battle along had cost the Covenant several hundred thousand lives and the loss of about ten assault carriers and twenty CCS battle cruisers. The Human losses though had been much greater. They had lost two billion civilians and UNSC military personal. Another great defeat for them and it pushed the Covenant much closer to victory.

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

Sitting in his chair in the middle of the bridge, Vadumee looked at a holographic screen of the planet of Takra as they flew away from it. He admired the work he and his fleet had done there. Even from this far into space, he could well and truly see the damage his fleet had done to the planet.

Large swathes of it were now more desert-like than the once great expanse of greenery and blue lakes and seas that had once covered the surface of the planet. Even from space, pillars of smoke were visible and the large Euria Sea south of one of the main continents of Takra was now only half the size it had previously been as the Covenant glassing of the planet had vaporized much of the surface water of the sea. Takra was no longer a world for Humanity to expand and settle on. It was now a world that was a wasteland and, although it would rejuvenate itself, it would take years for the planet to recover from this long and drawn out battle.

Vadumee pressed a small button on the armrest of his chair and the holographic image dematerialised into thin air and he looked up through the window of the bridge into the ever stretching blackness of space that was filled with the trillions of stars. Out there, now, was the last of the Human resistance in this system. Surely they would leave soon, or at least surrender and submit to the Covenant. They were finished here, but a new thought filled Vadumee's mind. He knew that Humanity would not easily surrender. The Covenant were not leaving any survivors in this war and they had not done on any of the other worlds that Humanity had previously colonized here. Plus, the Humans had not showed any sign of giving up. They had fought long and hard and despite losing millions of their own people, they were inflicting heavy casualties on the Covenant. Also, they knew this was a matter of life or death for their own species so there was no choice for them. They had to either fight or die, and he knew that Humanity would fight to the death, no matter who they were up against.

_Worthy foes_ he thought as he looked up into the ever stretching blackness. _But they are already doomed. If only they can be saved._

"Shipmaster!" a minor Elite working on a nearby control panel called, jumping Vadumee out of his thoughts and causing him to turn his head towards the Elite. "We have received orders from _High Charity_. We are to return there immediately,"

Vadumee nodded. "Set a course for the holy city!" he ordered.

He looked back up through the bridge window for a moment before he pressed the button on his armrest again. The holographic image of Takra appeared again and he gazed at it and touched his wound again, which had healed but not re-grown or anything. This planet would always be in his mind from where he was given a mark of shame in this war. Even now, months on from that day, he began to feel sympathetic for what he had done to that Human girl. Even though she had cut off two of his h=mandibles and made him look like a fool and plus he was trying to defend himself, he would have preferred to kill her in self-defence rather than out of anger as he had done by throwing her over the cliff.

But that was something he would have to live with for the rest of his life and there was no doubt it would haunt him until his death.


	54. It is not fair!

**Two months later**

**March 29****th****, 2552**

For most of the last two months, Humanity and the Covenant had rarely fought each other. The loss of Takra seemed to have caused much dismay to the UNSC, but the losses were high to the Covenant as well. Although it was another victory for them, they too had suffered heavy losses and had to take time out from the war to reorganize and regroup. This had only allowed the UNSC to regroup as well and to allow more civilians to escape to Earth and the other colonies of their home system. There was word as well that Humanity was preparing a new kind of soldiers to fight in the war. When they would be launched into battle, the Covenant did not know but their leaders believed that these new kind of soldiers Humanity was preparing to launch into the war against them had come too late and would not be a threat to the Covenant.

**Bridge of the **_**Honourable**_

On the bridge of the assault carrier, _Honourable_, the mood in the air was quiet and tense. The Elites on the control panels were slightly nervous as behind them, their leader who was, as usual, sitting in his silver chair. However, the reason they were so quiet and tense was because a holographic form of their prophet Truth was talking to Vadumee. The holographic form was emanating out of the end of the armrest of the chair.

"_Are you are ready to do your duty for the Covenant and the Great Journey?" _Truth said to Vadumee.

"Yes, my prophet," Vadumee said.

Ever since the battle of Takra, he had become more…well more tough and dedicated to this Great Journey. Not many knew why, but some zealot and major Elites suspected that it was to do with the fact that just a month or so earlier, the prophet of Truth had predicted that they were getting closer to finding a great place that was created by their gods. This had created a kind of power vacuum for place of who would be sent to look for this great place. This had had a great effect on two particular beings. They were Vadumee and Vadamee. Their friendship had been strained greatly over the last few months and since the prophet Truth had predicted the Covenant finding the great creation of their gods, they had been going further than ever to gain the place in finding this creation.

Vadumee had been confident in this. He had destroyed the Human world of Takra and had also aided in defeating the majority of the Humans over Lupo and Eucia I and Eucia II. He had even aided Vadamee in destroying the Humans on and over Tura II after Vadamee had lost many ships in trying to Tura I. There was no doubt he would be earned the place in finding the creation of their gods. He was even surprising himself as now he was suddenly dedicated to this Great Journey even more than he had been before, but all of that had been forgotten about now and he was more confident in getting the task of finding the creation.

_"Vadumee… You will not be looking for the great creation of our gods," _Truth told him.

At first, Vadumee's happiness and eagerness continued to flow through his veins, but once the words of his prophet sank into him like quicksand, all of that eagerness and happiness was suddenly swept out of him like a great wind blowing it away. What! H-he was **not** being given the task to go and look for the great creation of their gods? This…this was not fair!

"W…I…I am sorry, my prophet!" he gasped. "B-but…did I hear you say: I will not be given the task?" he repeated.

Truth's holographic form nodded. _"Yes, Vadumee. And I dearly hope you are not going to question my decision,"_

Vadumee really wanted to! He wanted to tell Truth what he thought of his own decision, how he felt and why he was not being given the task, but he knew that in doing so, he was virtually giving himself a death sentence. He took a shallow breath to calm down and looked up at the holographic form of Truth.

"Of course not, my prophet," he said in a low tone. "But I do wish to ask why I have not been given the task, sire,"

"_You have already performed your excellence in fighting the Humans in the war, Vadumee," _Truth replied. _"I and neither can the Covenant risk giving you a new assignment. You must continue your juggernaut against them and destroy them,"_

Vadumee swallowed and took another deep breath as fury and anger burned through him like a wildfire. It was not fair! This was an insult! He had made the Covenant victorious! Maybe he was good in fighting the Humans, but if there was anyone who deserved to be given the task of finding the creation of their gods, it was him!

"I do wish to ask one more thing of you, my prophet," Vadumee said after a few seconds of silence.

"_What is it?" _Truth asked in a voice that sounded as if it were getting annoyed of continuing to talk with Vadumee.

"W-who…will be given the task of looking for the creation of our gods?" he asked.

He had a feeling it would be someone who had not done nearly as good as him in this war so far or had done nothing in the war.

_"The task will be given to Vadamee, your old friend," _Truth told him.

Vadumee growled under his breath, trying to keep it quiet from Truth. "Vadamee," he repeated, trying to keep his tone normal but inside he was seething with fury and anger.

"_Yes," _Truth replied_. "Now I must go, Vadumee," _

Truth's holographic form faded away from the armrest, disappearing into thin air. Vadumee growled and pounded the armrest of the chair where Truth's holographic form emanated from hard with his fist. This was an insult to him! An absolute insult! It was…it was just not fair!

"It is not fair! He grumbled to himself. "It is just not fair!"

What he really could not believe was that Vadamee had been given this task. Vadamee of all Elite shipmasters! Why had he been given the task? He had done almost nothing in this war. He had only fought over Lupo and over Tura and those were the only two planets he had cleansed of the Humans! Vadumee had done more than _twice_ that amount of what Vadamee had done. He had defeated the Humans on Eucia I, Eucia II, over Lupo in helping Vadamee and Takra, which was a world Vadamee could never have taken in a million years! It was absolutely ridiculous he had been given this task.

Vadumee sighed. Well, there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could hope for, though this was almost impossible, was that Truth would change his mind and let him find this great creation rather than Vadamee.

_Hopefully _Vadumee thought as he looked up through the bridge window at space. _Hopefully, the gods will bless me and allow that to happen._


	55. Punishment of a friend

**Nineteen days later**

**April 17****th****, 2552**

**Location: **_**High Charity**_

**Council hall entrance**

_High charity_, the home world and headquarters of the Covenant. It was here the powerful alien coalition was formed many millennia ago and had grown strong ever since. Usually, it had been famous among the Covenant for It's vastness in size and the large chrome coloured pyramid-like structure in the middle of the city which was said to be a ship that their gods had once used and had been given to the prophets.

However, _High Charity _was well known for something else among the Covenant as well. If anyone in the Covenant had failed a great task, especially if it was set by the prophets, they were deemed a failure, or worse, a heretic and all of the Covenant knew very well what would happen to heretics, and today, outside the council hall entrance, the large groups of Covenant lined up along the sides of a silver pathway that led from the door to a dead end of the pathway that overlooked the city and several C shaped platforms that were connected to the sides of the tower and were descending down in full view of the end of the pathway were waiting for a heretic to be brought out.

Standing in the middle of the Covenant group, on the left side of the pathway near one of the pillars, was a silver Elite. It was Vadumee. He was filled with disbelief and shock, but he did not let it get to him, but still…it was…overpowering to think that this could happen to the Covenant, and that the heretic was one of their own shipmasters.

That shipmaster was someone Vadumee knew very well. It was Vadamee.

Vadamee had been given the task of finding the great creation of their gods and then, if he did find it, protect it, even with his own life. He had done the first part of that task by finding the great creation, which was an enormous ring called Halo, but a human ship called the _Axiom _had escaped from Reach when Vadamee's ships had attacked it when they believed they had found a lead to the great creation and one of those special human soldiers, a woman who the Humans called Eve, had destroyed the ring. When news reached the Covenant of this, it shook them to It's core and from deep within them, they desired a very deep taste for revenge. Vadamee had, of course, protested and tried to point out that he had been attacked by the Flood, or parasite as the Covenant called it, which was a fair point, but the prophets still regarded his task of protecting the Sacred Ring as more important than focusing his attention on the Flood and, for failing to stop the Human who had destroyed it, who they now called the Demon, he was going to be given the greatest punishment for the greatest heresy to the Covenant.

Vadumee groaned as he looked towards the door. In front of him were a group of four Grunts. Everyone was shouting and chanting, obviously impatient for Vadamee to come out and be punished. Vadumee was slightly worried for him though. Even though Vadamee had committed an act which even he was shocked by and even he saw as a great sin and great heretic act, he still saw Vadamee as his friend, but though his friendship with him was now only just for what he had failed to do.

He glanced at the door to the council tower again, waiting for Vadamee to emerge. The mood was getting more and more tense and exciting. Vadumee was tense, but not excited. He just wanted to get this over with. He knew very well what would happen to Vadamee. He had seen this happen only once before, but once was more than enough.

Then, as if a monster had been awakened, the Covenant on both sides of the pathway erupted into a chorus of cheers and claps as the doors to the council tower opened and a gold armoured Elite with three large Brutes, one of them being the largest of the two and had grey skin that looked thick like rhino skin with muscles that looked as though they could crush steel as easily as crushing paper and a large weapon strapped to his back called the Fist of Rukt, emerged from the tower and walked down the pathway. The grey skinned Brute was called Tartarus. He was the chieftain of the Brutes and very well trained and very loyal to the Covenant and the prophets. He and his Brutes really disliked the Elites, who had a similar attitude in return. In fact, the two races in the Covenant truly loathed each other and how the prophets managed to keep them together was a real mystery.

Tartarus and his Brutes led Vadumee, who was walking in front of the two Brutes and alongside Tartarus, down the silver pathway. All the Covenant soldiers along the sides of the pathway jeered and cheered as they watched a once great shipmaster be led off to be punished like cattle. Vadumee glared slightly at Tartarus as they approached. Tartarus saw his but ignored him and walked on, seemingly chuckling to himself.

Then, Vadumee felt heavy footfalls on the floor behind him and he looked lover his shoulder to see a Brute with a strap around his chest and going over his shoulders with a blue helmet on his head stop a few feet from him, watching Vadamee be taken off to the end of the pathway. Vadumee turned his head back to watch as well.

"Heretic! Heretic!" the four Grunts in front of Vadumee chanted as Vadamee and Tartarus passed them.

They stopped at the end of the pathway and two floating circular shaped cuffs hovered down and wrapped themselves around Vadamee's wrists and held them there in mid-air. Vadamee did not struggle. Vadumee heard a slight chuckle behind him, obviously from that brute, but he ignored him and looked on. He watched Tartarus mutter something to Vadamee, who replied in return but Vadumee could not hear him for all the chanting and shouting going on around him.

Then, another chorus of cheers erupted along the pathway as the cuffs suddenly lit up and fire shot down onto Vadamee's body. It was not a real fire, but a painful energy draining power that was to weaken the heretic for the next part of the punishment. Vadumee felt helpless in watching his friend be tortured like an animal, but there was nothing he could do. If he tried to stop Tartarus, the very same thing could happen to him, or worse: he could be killed and being killed protecting a heretic was a great source of shame to him and his own race, something which he would be infamously remembered for by all those in the Covenant.

After ten seconds, Vadumee mentally breathed a sigh of relief as the fire finally stopped and Tartarus turned to the Covenant that were lining the platforms in front of the end of the platform.

"This is the punishment the heretic deserves!" he shouted. "There can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example to all who would break out Covenant!"

The Covenant on the platforms and along the sides of the pathway erupted into a chorus of cheers again. Tartarus then barked a command and Vadumee watched as they tore off his now charred armour, removing his torso armour, arm and leg armour and then finally, as if it was a final great disgrace, tore off his helmet tossed it to the floor. Vadamee's shameful body was revealed. His thin skin and bones hung from the cuffs as they rose a few feet into the air and ,left him hanging from them like a dead animal ready to be butchered.

Another deep low laugh came from the Brute and Vadumee clenched his hands into fists and gritted his teeth together in anger. Oh, he really wanted to pound the face of that Brute in but he had to keep calm and not let this get to him. He took another deep breath and lowered his arms and watched as Tartarus, who was now wielding a long spire shaped device with a kind of circular end that was red hot, pointed the burning end towards Vadamee, muttered something and thrust it onto his chest.

Vadumee gritted his teeth together once again, though this time out of grief and closed his eyes. However, his friend's torture did not evade him there and a second later, a scream of pain emitted from Vadamee that rang in Vadumee's ears.

However, his grief was quickly replaced with anger as he heard the Brute laugh out loud, almost covering the cheers or the other Covenant. Vadumee felt anger overwhelm him like an overflowing cauldron. His fists shook madly and he desperately tried to resist attacking the Brute.

After a few seconds, Vadamee finally stopped screaming as Tartarus removed the burning end of the spire from his chest. Vadumee looked up and saw Vadamee's head look up once more at Tartarus once more before it fell down and moved no more.

Vadumee immediately turned and pushed through the Covenant towards the council hall entrance. He glared at the Brute as he passed him, but the Brute just smiled evilly at him as if he was trying to insult him with the fact that his friend had been tortured in front of everyone and watched as Vadumee entered the council hall tower and disappeared from sight as the doors closed behind him.

"What a fool!" the Brute muttered as he looked back at Vadamee's motionless body.


	56. A new start

**Two days later**

**Date: April 19****th****, 2552**

Flying away from _High Charity _were three large craft that were the new type of Covenant drop ships. Phantoms. They were much faster than their earlier shade drop ship counterparts and they had three large deadly cannons rather than one. As they flew further away from High Charity, the many thousands of shapes that were Covenant assault carriers and CCS battle cruisers were visible. The great Covenant fleet was awe inspiring even from here.

**Inside the lead phantom**

On board the lead phantom, Vadumee walked out of the cog pit into the main section of the ship. Along the sides of the room were lines of special ops Elite, four on each line and one down the left wall and the other on the right wall. Going down the middle of the room were a line of four special ops Grunts. As soon as Vadumee appeared in the doorway of the room, they all stood up straight, all that is apart from an Elite on the right wall, who looked at him.

Vadumee stepped into the room and walked down the middle of the row between the Grunts and the Elites on the left wall.

"My brothers!" he announced. "Today we are going on a mission to wipe out the heresy that stains our Covenant,"

"Death to the Covenant!" the Elites chanted.

"When we joined the Covenant, we took an oath!" Vadumee continued.

"According to our station, all without exception!" the special ops Elites responded.

"On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons, we swore to uphold the Covenant!"

"Even to our dying breath!"

Vadumee halted at the end of the room. "Those who break this oath are heretics! "They are worthy of neither pity, nor mercy! Even now they use their lords' creations to broadcast their lies!"

"We shall grind them into dust!"

"And we shall continue our march to glorious salvation!"

Vadumee then walked towards Vadamee, who was dressed in a kind of dark silver armour with torso, arm and leg armour, though not as much as their normal Elite brothers, and with a helmet that had a kind of curved piece go down the front of his face between his mandibles. Instead of Vadamee, he now went by a new name: The Arbiter.

"This armour suits you," Vadumee said to him. "But it cannot hide that mark,"

"Nothing ever will," he replied.

Vadumee let out a humph. _Still has his attitude _he thought.

"You are the Arbiter, the will of the prophets," he said. "Their lives matter to me. Yours does not,"

"That makes two of us," Vadamee replied.

Vadumee let out a respectful 'hmmm' before he turned and walked down the front of the room.

His friendship with Vadamee looked to be going downhill now, but now that really no longer mattered to him. Vadamee's damage was done and although he still felt pity for him for what happened to him two days earlier, he no longer wished to talk to him about why all of this happened.

Setting his sights back on their mission, he walked into the cog pit and looked through the window at the brown clouds of Threshold's atmosphere. He was leading this mission now and Vadamee, or now better known as the Arbiter, would have to obey him rather then it being Vadumee having to listen to Vadamee.


	57. A new enemy

In the dimly lit corridors of the UNSC base on the island of Crete in the Mediterranean, there was nothing but silence, save for the occasional shout and faint sound of gunfire from the battle raging above. The corridors were virtually empty, making this base looked more like a ghost town rather than a UNSC place of operations.

Well…they were almost virtually empty.

Stepping out from the left turning at the end of a three way corridor was an Elite in silver armour. It was Vadumee. In his hand was a plasma rifle, which he was holding close. His silver armour, however, once shiny and looking as if it was brand new, was now more of a faded white colour and was dirty in some places, that being caused by the fighting. He had been a veteran of fighting in the past and even up to a few days ago, but this attack had caught him and everyone else off guard, completely off guard, and what had really shocked him and everyone else was that it was being led a former ally, not an allied race but a member of that allied race, now under the command of a new leader.

As Vadumee walked down the corridor, aiming his weapon around him, he felt his heart beat madly against his chest like a mad drummer. A few drops of sweat fell from his head to the floor and even the panic was beginning to invade his eyes and his breaths. He was nervous, no, scared, no still…frightened, which was a word that had very rarely taken effect on him, of this new enemy. For all he knew, this new enemy could be just around the next corner.

THUD! Vadumee's eyes darted to the end of the corridor ahead of him and he fired a blast in reaction. There was no one there. At the end of the corridor was a turning that led right and he was certain the noise came from down there.

"What is that?" he muttered under his breath, slightly panicked.

He took a step towards the end of the corridor, breathing heavily and keeping his finger on the trigger of his weapon. As he neared the end of the corridor, he could have sworn he saw something move at the turning.

"Reveal yourself!" he shouted down the corridor.

When he was a few feet from the end of the corridor, he took a deep breath and pushed half-down on the trigger of his weapon, ready to fire on whatever was there. More sweat began to fall from his head. Breathing another deep breath, he stepped forward and turned the corner.

Nothing! There was...nothing down the corridor. It was just dimly lit and empty like the last ones he had been down. Wait…if it was empty, then where was the person he could have sworn he had se-

"AAAHHH!"

Suddenly, something grabbed him and pulled him up to the ceiling. Then, a tall figure jumped down from the ceiling, holding Vadumee by the neck with a kind of long arm that seemed to wrap itself around his neck. The figure tightened It's grip on his neck. Vadumee gasped loudly as he looked into the eyes of the figure.

"N-No!" he gasped. "St-…St-op! P…ple… E-"

Finally, he took one last breath and his head cocked to one side. The figure let out a little laugh behind a closed mouth and threw Vadumee's body against the wall, making a loud thud. The figure stared at his body for a moment as it slid down to the floor before it walked down the corridor.

What might have revealed the figure was that It's laugh was…much like a woman.


	58. Jupendorus' story: prologue

**Date: April 17****th****, 2552**

**Location: **_**High Charity**_

_High Charity_, the great holy city of the Covenantand the home world of it as well. It was here that the seven alien coalition of Unggoy (Grunts), Kig-Yar (Jackals), Sangheili (Elites), Mgalekgolo (hunters), Jiralhanae (Brutes), Yanme'e (Drones) and San Shyuum (Prophets) was formed into the Covenant, with the Sangheili and San Shyuum being the founders. The city was famous among the Covenant for the many great buildings scattered among it. One of which was the enormous pyramid-like structure that towered over the city, standing tall and proud in the middle of it. The entire thing was a chrome-like colour and was very shiny, almost as if it was a star itself. The Covenant were awed by the very sight of the structure and it was a kind of symbol of their coalition and that they were ready to fight and die for the Covenant.

Standing on the top of the council hall tower was a Brown skinned creature, with a thin layer of fur over it, thick rhino-like skin and a strap over his chest that connected on his back. It was Brute. He had a light blue helmet on his head. His name was Jupendorus.

Jupendorus was about eight feet tall and he, like all the other Brutes in the Covenant, was tough, aggressive and very loyal to the Covenant. He was an admirer of the prophets and the idea of the Great Journey. Also, he, again like almost his entire race, hated the Elites. To them, they were disloyal and uncivilized creatures that did not deserve to be in the Covenant. In fact, though, the Elites felt pretty much the same way about the Brutes. The two races really loathed each other and even now it was still a mystery how they could be united into a Covenant.

One of the main reasons of the Brutes' hatred for the Elites was that they were the backbone of the Covenant forces and were even part of a loyal guard of troops ordered to guard and protect the prophets with their very lives, something which the Brutes felt they deserved and something they felt they could do much better. What had really surprised them was that the prophets, particularly Truth, the leader of the Covenant, felt almost the same way and believed that the Brutes were more loyal and dedicated to the Great Journey than the Elites. Whether he planned to change that in the future, the Elites did not know.

Jupendorus stared out over the great city that stretched for miles in all directions. As usual, his gaze, like so many before it, was entranced on the enormous pyramid-like structure that stood high in the middle of the city. He smiled a little.

_The greatest symbol of our city and our Covenant _he thought.

On the outside, he looked happy to be here and to be looking at the city from this great view. However, inside it was a different story. Inside, he was boiling with anger. That anger was caused by something that rocked the Covenant to It's core. An act of great heresy and disloyalty to the Covenant and to the Great Journey.

That act was the destruction of the Sacred Ring by an Elite fleet commander known as Thel' Vadamee. He had been ordered by the prophets to find and protect the Sacred Ring known as Halo. He had failed in his task when a Human ship had escaped from the world of Reach to the Ring and had landed on it and one of the Humans, who was a member of this special taskforce set up by the Humans, had destroyed the ring.

When news of the destruction of Halo reached the Covenant, it had brought disbelief, sadness and above all, anger a sense of revenge, to them. They wanted to punish the Humans dearly for what they had done, particularly the one who had destroyed Halo. However, they also saw Vadamee as being responsible for the destruction of the ring. He had been ordered to protect it with his fleet, his troops, even his very life and he had failed. This was a great act of heresy in the eyes of the Covenant and they wanted to see him punished, painfully if necessary.

"Oh, I had my hand on him now!" Jupendorus growled to himself, his hand curling into a fist and shaking slightly as if he envisioning what he was thinking. "I would make him pay dearly for what he has done!"

"Jupendorus!" a voice behind him called and he turned to see another Brute standing a few metres behind him above a small circular hole, just wide enough for a Brute to fit down, in the roof of the tower that led into a dark tunnel. "Come, they are about to punish the heretic!"

Upon hearing this, Jupendorus smiled and growled in satisfaction.

_Finally! _He thought. _The heretic is getting what he deserves!_

Jupendorus ran over to the Brute, who stepped into the tunnel and hovered down into it. Jupendorus followed close behind, the hole closing above him when he had disappeared into the tunnel.

**Several minutes later**

**Council hall entrance**

Along the sides of the silver pathway that led to a kind of curved dead end of the pathway that overlooked several C-like shaped platforms, all of which were filled with Covenant, and the holy city behind it, were many Covenant. They were a mixture of Grunts, Jackals and Hunters (who were mainly gathered on the C-like shaped pathways) with a silver Elite standing on the right side of the pathway. They were all cheering and jeering at a gold armoured Elite that was walking down the silver pathway with two more Brutes walking either side behind him and a large grey skinned coloured Brute called Tartarus, the chieftain of the Brutes, walking next to him. That gold armoured Elite was Vadamee, the one responsible for the failed protection of Halo.

The door to the council hall opened and Jupendorus and the Brute who had told him of Vadamee's punishment walked out onto the pathway. The Brute walked over to the left side of the pathway whilst Jupendorus walked over to the right, hoping to find a good space of watching Vadamee being punished.

"Move out the way, you whelp!" he growled at a Grunt, pushing it. The Grunt groaned and stepped forward a little, allowing Jupendorus to squeeze through into a gap a few feet to the left of the silver armoured Elite, who glanced over his shoulder at Jupendorus to see who the new arrival was before he turned his head back to watch Vadamee.

Jupendorus smiled as Vadamee and the Brutes stopped at the end of the pathway. At first, he thought they were going to push him over the end of the pathway (_Please do! _He thought hopefully.) but when he saw the floating cuffs descend from above and be placed around Vadamee's wrists, he smiled a little more. Maybe his punishment would not be death, but a painful punishment was good enough.

The crowd watched eagerly as Tartarus said something to Vadamee, who replied and Tartarus then smiled and muttered something else. Then, the crowd broke into cheers and laughs as the cuffs suddenly lit up like fire and heat began shooting down Vadamee's arms to his body, almost consuming it completely as if it was trying to swallow him. Jupendorus chuckled slightly as he watched the heretic be burned.

Finally, after about ten seconds, the cuffs stopped glowing and the fire promptly disappeared. The cuffs descended slightly to the ground so Vadamee's body was just a few inches above the floor and Tartarus turned to the crowds on the C-like shaped platforms.

"This is the punishment the heretic deserves!" Tartarus shouted. "There can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example to all who would break our Covenant!"

The crowds along the sides of the pathway and on the platforms cheered loudly. Tartarus barked a command and his two Brutes began tearing off the now charred armour. Jupendorus smiled.

_They should just rip his shameful body apart _he thought gleefully, giving a low laugh as he did.

When one of the Brutes took off Vadamee's helmet and threw it to the ground, a kind of spire shaped object hovered up from the floor next to Tartarus, who grabbed it and walked over to Vadamee, pointing a circular end of the spire, which was red hot with burning heat. He stopped in front of Vadamee, said something and thrust it onto Vadamee's chest.

As soon as the end of the spire touched Vadamee, the crowds along the pathway and on the platforms broke into a louder chorus of cheers and jeers, some clapping, others laughing. Jupendorus, who could no longer contain his happiness to see Vadamee punished, laughed out loud, almost covering the noise of the other Covenant soldiers, and Vadamee's scream of pain from the burning sensation on his chest only made him laugh louder than ever.

After a few seconds, Vadamee stopped screaming as Tartarus removed the end of the spire from Vadamee's chest and stood back to look at a mark on his chest as if he were an artist admiring his work. Vadamee looked up at Tartarus once more for a moment before it slumped down and moved no more.

Jupendorus smiled again, stifling another chuckle.

_He deserves every bit of that punishment _he thought.

As he looked at Vadamee, the silver Elite turned and began pushing through the Covenant towards the council hall entrance. As he passed Jupendorus, he glared at him. Jupendorus met his gaze and smiled evilly to try and annoy, probably even insult the Elite even more that one of his kind was now deemed a heretic for failing to protect the Sacred Ring. He watched the Elite walked towards the council hall door, which opened as he approached it, and disappear inside.

"What a fool!" Jupendorus muttered as he turned back to look at Vadamee' s body.

Tartarus said something to his two Brutes, who nodded and opened the cuffs binding Vadamee's wrists. Tartarus walked path them down the pathway and Jupendorus pushed his way through the Covenant to him.

"A very well planned punishment, chieftain," he said.

Tartarus nodded in agreement and looked over his shoulder at Vadamee as the two Brutes grabbed him by the arms and began pulling him towards the council hall, dragging him behind them.

"What are you to do with him now?" Jupendorus asked Tartarus.

"We are to take him to the cells," he replied.

Jupendorus 'humphed' and glanced back at Vadamee. "We should just dump him on a barren world and leave him to rot," he said.

Tartarus chuckled. "Yes, that is what I said he deserves, along with rest of his kind. You will learn that one day, Jupendorus,"

Jupendorus nodded and the two walked back into the council hall as the door to it opened automatically for them. Behind the, the Brutes continued to drag Vadamee along the pathway with the Covenant along the sides of the pathway jeering and shouting at Vadamee's motionless body.

This was now the punishment he deserved, and there was chance something else was in store for him.


	59. A request

**The next day**

**Location: Sanctum of the Hierarchs, Covenant Holy City, **_**High Charity**_**.**

Walking down the violet coloured corridor towards the large diamond shaped door at the end was Jupendorus. Lined up along either side of the pathway were more honour guard Elites with their pikes in their hands and placed next to them, staring ahead as if they were in a trance. Jupendorus did not even look at them as he passed and the Elites did not watch him pass, though in his mind he was cursing them for being the honour guards and he knew that the honour guard Elites were most likely thinking of him and his race being nothing but fools and failed competitors in the Covenant.

As the Brute approached the diamond shaped door, it opened to reveal a large dome shaped room with a violet colour going around the floor, walls and ceiling. A large silver pillar went through the floor in the middle of the room. At the other end of the room was a large window that gave an amazing view of space and the trillions upon trillions of stars that shined brightly in the ever-stretching blackness.

"No, councillor. I cannot allow it,"

Jupendorus looked over towards the window and saw large silver metallic chairs hovering a few feet above the floor. Sitting in them were aliens with oval shaped heads, which had what looked like the brains of the aliens sticking out of the back, long thing curved necks that seemed to disappear into the neck of the robes they were wearing. Long thin arms with small hands and long bony fingers came out of the sleeves of the robes. On top of their heads were circular shaped crowns with short curved top spires sticking up out of the front of the crown. It was the prophets Truth and Mercy. Regret, as everyone in the holy city knew, was absent.

Standing in front of the prophets was a silver armoured Elite with a strange type of crown on his head. It was silver with two large tops separated by about three inches. The outer side of the tops went in a diagonal line down to two large sections of the crown that looked like enormous eyes. The inside of the tops were dead straight and went down to a curved bottom. The two 'eyes' of the crown connected to a large helmet-like part of the crown. At the bottom of the helmet was a kind of small piece of armour shaped like a shield with a small hole for eyes to look out of. Either side of the councillor Elite was a minor Elite.

"My prophet, I assure you, our forces will be quicker in destroying the Human resistance at the four landing zones on Earth," the councillor Elite said. "I ask you to at least send a ship to aid them,"

"And I will tell you the very same answer, councillor," Truth replied. "No reinforcements are to be sent to Earth to aid my brother Regret in dealing with the Human threat,"

The councillor Elite sighed frustratingly. "They will need our help, my prophet,"

"Are you questioning my decision, councillor?" Truth asked the Elite in a stern voice that sounded as if the Elite should know better than to question him.

"No, my prophet,"

"Then you shall know I have decided to send any reinforcements to Earth. Do I make myself abundantly clear?"

The councillor Elite nodded. "Yes, my prophet,"

"Good. You may leave,"

The councillor and his two minor guards bowed and turned and walked towards the door. As they passed Jupendorus, the councillor gave him a slight glare as if to say: _"Your filth should not be allowed in here," _Jupendorus ignored him and walked towards the prophets. Behind him, the door to the room opened up and the Elites walked out into the corridor, the door closing behind them.

Truth sighed and looked up at Jupendorus as he approached. He seemed to lighten up a little.

"Oh finally, someone of some loyalty," he said in a slightly relived voice.

"My prophets," Jupendorus replied, stopping a few feet from Truth and Mercy and bowing to them. "Forgive me for disturbing you, but I have a request from Tartarus, my prophets,"

"Very well, what is his message?" Truth inquired.

"It is to do with sending Brute reinforcements to Earth," Jupendorus replied. "Though, I have overheard your conversation with the Elites and-"

"You need not fear about that," Truth interrupted, cutting him off. "In fact, I was later going to send for Tartarus to inform him of sending reinforcements,"

Jupendorus looked confused. "B-but. I-I thought-" he stammered but again Truth cut him off.

"The Elite had asked to allow me to send Elite reinforcements," Truth told him. "But I did not say that I would not send brute reinforcements,"

"Careful wording is one of the many talents of us prophets," Mercy piped up.

Jupendorus nodded and smiled. Indeed the prophets were good speakers, and sometimes tricky ones as well.

"So…what should I tell Tartarus, my prophet?" Jupendorus asked him.

"Tell him that more Brute soldiers and several hundred Jackals and Drones are to be sent to Earth immediately." Truth replied. "And make sure the Elites do not know of this," he added, adding a slightly stern voice on the last sentence.

"Yes, my prophet," Jupendorus replied, bowing once again.

"Good, you may now leave,"

Bowing again, Jupendorus turned and walked towards the door, which opened as he approached it and he walked out of the room down onto the pathway. Truth and Mercy watched him go.

"Why do you plan to send Brutes to Earth instead of Elites?" Mercy asked Truth.

"Let us just say, it will be a changing of the guard soon, my brother," truth replied, turning his chair and hovering back over towards the window.

As Truth hovered away, Mercy could not help but think that this _changing of the guard _just…did not sound good at all.

As Jupendorus walked away from the councillor hall, he too began to think about what Truth had said to him. Why did he not want the Elites to know and why was he allowing Brute reinforcements to go to Earth rather than Elite? Something was wrong here, very wrong, but whether it would come to reveal itself he did not know.

It would be up to fate to decided when to reveal what Truth was hiding.


	60. Overlooking and thinking

**Date: April 19****th**

**Location: Assault carrier platform 3, **_**High Charity**_

Hovering a few hundred feet above the enormous metal surface that was one of the assault carrier platforms on _High Charity_ was the assault carrier _Avenger_. Scattered out on the surface of the platform below were many legions of Brutes, numbering about 100 members in each. They stretched as far as the eye could see across the platform and on the pathway that led to the platform from the enormous wall a few miles away.

Standing on a small platform on the end of a pathway that led out from a small door on the huge wall was Jupendorus. He looked out over the platform with an impressed look in his eyes, but also a slight sense of unease within them as well. Even though it was impressive to see the Brutes being sent en masse to Earth, and now the other surviving colonies in their home system to make sure all of the Humans were killed, rather than the Elites, but he just still could not get the thought out of his head about the prophets' decision to send Brute reinforcements to Earth and their surviving colonies rather than Elite reinforcements. Why was Truth ordering this? It did not make any sense but then again he was not going to question the orders of the prophet. He humphed a little at that thought.

_That is the big difference between us and the Elites_ he thought. _They question and we do not_

"It is marvellous," a voice behind Jupendorus said and he looked over his shoulder to see chieftain Tartarus walking down the pathway towards the platform.

"Chieftain!" Jupendorus exclaimed slightly, standing upright.

"At ease, Jupendorus," Tartarus told him when he reached the end of the pathway and stopped next to him and began looking out over the platform and the thousands of Brutes on it and on the pathway below.

Jupendorus relaxed a little and also looked out over the landing platform with Tartarus. Indeed Tartarus was right. Even though Jupendorus did have a little unease about all this, it was an amazing thing to see!

"And this is only one," Tartarus said, looking left and right to prove his point.

Jupendorus nodded and looked left to see another four enormous landing platforms, each with an assault carrier hovering over them and a pathway leading to it and crammed with Brutes. He then looked right and saw another seven assault carrier landing platforms, which were, again, like the pathways that led to them from the huge wall, were full to bursting with Brutes. It just showed how many Brute reinforcements were to be sent to fight the Humans on Earth and their home system.

"With these reinforcements, we shall show the Elites how we fight," Tartarus muttered.

Jupendorus nodded in agreement and watched another legion of Brutes hover up from the platform into the assault carrier nearest to them. Soon they would be sent into battle to destroy the Human meddlers and they would show the Elites how to fight the Humans.

It was then Jupendorus remembered something.

"Chieftain?" he asked and Tartarus looked at him. "What are we to do with the heretic? Have the prophets ordered his execution?"

"No, I am afraid not," Tartarus replied in a sort of annoyed tone and Jupendorus lowered his head a little in disappointment. "Though the council has not informed us of not killing him, so we can keep our hopes up and pray that they shall soon come to their senses and allow the heretic to be killed,"

Jupendorus lightened up a little and smiled slightly. Hopefully the council would see sense and decided to kill Vadamee. After all, he was a heretic and had allowed the Sacred Ring to be destroyed by the demon. He was the one responsible for the failure to protect it and he deserved nothing less than death.

Shaking the thoughts of hate out of his mind, Jupendorus looked back up at the landing platform and watched the never ending legions of Brutes move onto the platform from the pathway and hover into the assault carrier. Soon, they would be taken into battle but would they also take part in what Truth might have in mind for the Covenant?

That question was one that might reveal itself to Jupendorus soon.


	61. A broken deal

**Two hours later**

In the corridors of one of the many prison cells on _High Charity_, two Brutes, one of them Jupendorus, were dragging the seared body of an Elite behind Tartarus, the Brute chieftain. The Elite was Vadamee, who had been thrown into a confined cell two days ago after suffering his punishment for being deemed a heretic after failing to protect Halo from destruction, but was now being taken to the prophets Truth and Mercy, who were in the Mausoleum of the Arbiter.

Jupendorus grunted slightly as he and his comrade dragged the prisoner heretic down the corridor. He and Tartarus had been watching the Brutes board the assault carriers earlier on when the Brute who was helping Jupendorus drag Vadamee down the hall, had come to them and wanted Tartarus to take Vadamee to the prophets in the Mausoleum. Tartarus had obeyed and then told the Brute and Jupendorus to help drag Vadamee to the prophets. Jupendorus had, as he had been with this, unhappy to do so as he still believed Vadamee should be executed right there and then, but, nevertheless, he decided not to go against the order of his chieftain, or more so the prophets, and obeyed. However, he was more eager to take part in this delivery of Vadamee when he heard that the prophets were going to punish him and they would allow those who brought Vadamee to them to watch.

Tartarus led them through another doorway into another section of the long prison corridor. Along the walls of the corridor were large rectangular shaped cells with curved metal bar doors going down from the top of the cells to the floor. Most of them were empty but there were a few Jackals within them.

As they passed the first two cells, one either side of them, Vadamee groaned.

"Wh-where am I?" he muttered.

"Be quiet you heretic!" Jupendorus growled and he swung his fist into Vadamee's chest. Vadamee gasped for breath and Tartarus chuckled slightly.

As they passed one of the cells, a Jackal, that was within the cell, ran towards the bar door and hissed loudly upon seeing Vadamee. Jupendorus glanced at it and saw It's mouth water, no doubt that it saw Vadamee as fresh meat. It just showed that in the Covenant cells, there was no food given to the prisoners, unless the Covenant guards decided to get rid of any other prisoners or the prisoners decided to turn on each other for food.

Jupendorus grunted loudly as they passed another two empty cells.

"How much further must we heft this baggage?" he said. "Any cell will do! Why not toss in here with this lot," he suggested, looking at the cell to his left. Inside the cell were three Jackals who immediately began hissing and growling as soon as they saw Vadamee. Like all prisoners, they had not been fed for a while and seeing Vadamee was enough to make their mouths water and lick their lips hungrily. One of them even ran up to the bars and swiped It's hand at Vadamee to try and grab him, or at least his arm or leg to bite off, though the other Brute stood in the way. "They could use the meat," Jupendorus added as they walked on past the cell, leaving the Jackal to hiss angrily.

"Them!" the other Brute exclaimed angrily. "What about us? My belly aches, and his flesh is seared! Just the way I like it!"

"Quiet!" Tartarus barked, silencing the two. "You two whimper like Grunts fresh off the teat. He's not meant for the jails,"

Tartarus stopped in front of a door and typed in a code on a control panel on the wall and turned to face them. Behind him, the door opened.

"The hierarches have something special in mind for him," he said, a grin spreading across his face.

Jupendorus and the other Brute chuckled slightly. The rivalry between the Brutes and Elites still held between the two races, especially to this heretic Elite, and they were hoping that whatever the hierarchs had in mind for Vadamee was something painful and well deserving, and if it happened to be either of the two, then they would enjoy it.

The four came out onto a small platform with a large circle a few feet from the edge. Far out below them was a large heart/sphere shaped structure that seemed to hover in the middle of a massive grey fog. This was the Mausoleum of the Arbiter, a holy structure to the Elites and the Covenant and where the hierarchs were to meet them.

Tartarus walked over to the hole; Jupendorus and the other Brute following close behind and dragging Vadamee with them. When they reached the hole, they hovered down through the hole and into the fog, quickly disappearing into it. After a few moments, Jupendorus looked down and saw a pathway beginning to form below them. It led towards the Mausoleum.

The four landed on the pathway and walked down it towards the Mausoleum. As they approached the entrance to the structure, which was a large diamond shaped door, they saw several honour guard Elites lined up along the sides of the pathway, standing there with their pikes pointed upwards towards the fog above them, which, in a way, gave them the feeling that the gods themselves were hovering over them, also keeping watch on them, and emotionless looks on their faces, as if they were statues. As the Brutes passed the honour guard Elites, Jupendorus, and, no doubt Tartarus, and the other Brute, got the feeling that the honour guard Elites were mentally cursing them and wanting them to go away as if they did not belong here, which they were probably thinking as well. Then again, the Brutes would, no doubt, think the same thing about the Elites if they were in each other's' positions.

The door opened as the four approached it, revealing a large circular shaped room with a silver pathway leading to a large hole in the floor with a light somewhere down or near the bottom of it. Hovering about six feet above the hole was a large object that looked like one of the prophets' chairs, only there was a large ball shaped object in where the actual seat was. Along the walls going up to the ceiling were purple egg shaped doors with a red light on them. Tartarus led his two Brutes into the room towards the side of the hole. Waiting next to the hole, sitting in their hover chairs, was Truth and Mercy. The three Brutes stopped about ten feet from the prophets and bowed, getting down on one knee, to show their loyalty and respect to the prophets.

"Noble Prophets of Truth and Mercy," Tartarus said. "I have brought the incompetent,"

"Thank you, Tartarus," Truth replied. "You may leave,"

Upon hearing these words, Jupendorus went wide-eyed and wanted to look up at the prophets, but he dared not break his loyal bow. Still though, how could they do this to them? The prophets had promised them to watch Vadamee be punished! Now, they have suddenly decided to go back on their deal! Why?

Though Jupendorus was not looking directly up at the prophets or Tartarus, he saw the chieftain, out of the top of his peripheral vision, look up at the prophets, no doubt filled with shock like him.

"B…but…" he stammered. "I… I thought…"

"And take your Brutes with you," Truth added, cutting Tartarus off.

Silence fell on the room for a moment. Jupendorus waited tensely to see what would happen next.

"Release the prisoner," Tartarus ordered.

Jupendorus and the other Brute nodded and released their grip on Vadamee. He thudded to the floor, groaning slightly as the wound on his chest stung madly. Tartarus got up and turned and walked back towards the entrance to the Mausoleum. As he passed Vadamee, Jupendorus saw him glare at Vadamee as if he was saying: _I hope your punishment is painful! _When the door to the Mausoleum opened as Tartarus approached it, Jupendorus and the other Brute followed him.

When they left the Mausoleum and walked down the pathway and were out of earshot of the Elites, Tartarus growled.

"I thought they would allow us to see that heretic be punished!" he said.

"It is not fair!" Jupendorus replied, also filled with anger.

"At least it is to be a painful punishment to befall that Elite," the other Brute said.

Tartarus and Jupendorus did calm down a little upon hearing. Yes, they were glad the punishment that Vadamee was headed for would, no doubt, be painful, but they were just angry that they were not to be there to see it. They had been raring to see him die painfully, but that was no longer going to happen now.

At least they would know that Vadamee would die a painful death and get rid of another heretic in the Covenant.


	62. An order from Truth

**Date: April 19****th****, 2552**

For the Covenant, this was a day they had never believed, dreamed or even thought would come. As soon as the news of his death had hit the city, demoralization and fear gripped them, along with a hidden fiery rage of anger that desired only one thing: revenge. Many wanted to flee, but many also wanted to stay and get that revenge.

This news was the death of the prophet Regret on Delta Halo by Evelyn Knight, or Eve, the last of the Human special taskforce and probably Humanity's only hope of winning this war. However, the Covenant had known her as the demon, mainly because she was responsible for the destruction of the first Halo, which had set ablaze a fire that had only been fuelled by the death of one of the Covenant prophets. Now the Covenant were raring to fight and kill the demon and, following Truths' words, to see her body paraded through the city and burned.

However, Regret's death had also marked a new page of history in the Covenant. Under the grief and anger showed by Regrets' death, a new order had arisen, also by Truth, but this one was much different, and it had surprised but also gladdened the Covenant, or at least most of them. That order was the removal of the Elites' duty of protecting the prophets and filling their place would be the next best soldiers in the Covenant. The Elites' bitter rivals: the Brutes.

When the Elites had heard of this, anger had gripped them, but they could do nothing but accept. With humiliation, they watched as their once holy and very honourable duty was taken from them and given to their rivals, those who they had deemed un-honourable and unworthy to serve the prophets. However, what had really made them furious was that the prophets, Truth especially, were happy to see them go, although Truth had said he had found the decision hard, but the Elites knew that he was lying. They knew him all too well after protecting him for so long.

But if there was one thing they did not know was what Truth had in store for them.

**Councillor Hall tower entrance,**_** High Charity**_

Standing outside the temple was a large group of about twenty five Brutes. Some were dressed in the honour guard uniforms and wielding the pikes their rivals had once worn. At the end of the silver pathway, that overlooked the C-like shaped platforms, were several honour guard Elites, no longer wearing their honour guard helmets, a sign of shame to them.

Jupendorus, who was one of the few not wearing the honour guard uniforms, was among the group of Brutes. He chuckled as he looked down the pathway at the Elites, who, one-by-one, were getting into the anti-gravity lift and hovering down to the platform below. Some were glancing back up at the Brutes, Jupendorus easily seeing the glares on their faces, but that did not matter to him anymore. Now the Elites were the unholy ones, not the Brutes.

"Ha-ha!" a deep voice laughed and Jupendorus looked back ahead of him to see one of the Brutes, dressed in the honour guard armour, though brown his fur was sticking out of the gaps between the armour, touch the tip of the pike with his finger as if testing to see it was sharp. "Oh, this is such a joyous time for us all!" the Brute said. "We finally have what we deserve!"

"Yes, this a great honour for our race," Another Brute replied. "Not for those cursed Elites!" he added, glancing back down the pathway to see one of the last four Elites hover down through the circular hole in the floor and disappear from sight.

"Jupendorus!" a voice barked, making the group jump. The group looked towards the council tower entrance to see a Brute dressed in honour guard armour and wielding a pike in his hand. "Jupendorus!" the Brute barked out again.

Jupendorus moved through the group and stood out from among them. The Brute calling for him, who was now standing a few feet from the council hall tower entrance, turned his head to look at him.

"Jupendorus," the Brute said, walking up to him. "The prophet truth wishes to see you,"

Jupendorus' eyes went wide a little. What! The prophet wanted to see him? Why? Panic gripped him slightly. Had he committed a traitorous act? He gulped.

"V-very well," he replied, trying his best not to be scared.

The Brute in honour guard armour turned and walked back towards the open entrance of the council hall tower. Jupendorus, with a nervous glance back at the group, who were watching him with nervousness in their eyes, followed the Brute.

**Several minutes later**

The council hall within the tower was long and wide. It had a large circular platform on the floor at the end hovering about a foot off of the floor. There were four large thin wraith front-like pillars in the middle of the room, two on each side and they were directly opposite each other. The two pillars on either side were separated by about a five metre long wall. The wraith-like front pillars had doors on the front of them that led into small corridors. At the back of the room was a large door. Between the pillars was a slope-like platform, held in place by the pillars, that had a line of seats going up four.

The entrance door to the council hall opened up and Jupendorus and the Brute that had led him here walked into the hall. At the other end of the hall, sitting in their hover seats, were Truth and Mercy. Truth was talking to a large grey skinned creature with a huge hammer-like object in his hand. It was chieftain Tartarus. Standing next to him was a Human, though this one was much different than any other Jupendorus had seen. This human was wearing a kind of dark blue/silver bodysuit that had many markings of the Forerunners all over it. The Human had brown hair, which Jupendorus could see was short and was about 6ft tall. It was a man who they called, the Oracle. The Arbiter, who Jupendorus was horrified and annoyed to discover had been allowed to live by the prophets, had recovered him from a gas mine on Threshold after being sent there with a team of special ops Elites to quell another heretic who had been broadcasting lies about the Great Journey and the prophets. It was said that he knew much about the Sacred Rings and had been left behind by their gods to protect them long ago.

Jupendorus walked into the hall towards the prophets and the chieftain at the opposite end; the Brute that had led him into the hall stood next to the door and put his feet together, standing at his full height with his pike next to him. He was now a guard to the hall and he was ready to defend the prophets with his life.

"Leave for the ring with the Arbiter and the Oracle," Truth was saying to Tartarus. "He shall guide you to the Sacred Icon,"

"Yes, my prophet," Tartarus replied. "Let's go, Oracle," he said, though in a slightly deeper voice as if to sound controlling, giving the Human a slight push as he turned. The Human turned and walked alongside Tartarus towards the door. As they passed Jupendorus, Tartarus gave a small bark, which Jupendorus replied, his eyes following the Oracle, who glanced back at him before the Brute chieftain and the Human reached the door, which opened as they approached it, and they walked into the corridor and turned left, disappearing from sight.

"Ah, Jupendorus," Truth's voice said. "Just the Brute I wanted to see,"

Jupendorus stopped a few feet from the prophets and bowed. "What is it you wished to see me about, my prophet?" he asked. 

"It is to do with a plan I have set in place," Truth replied, his metallic chair hovering off the large circular platform.

He turned to Mercy, who, which Jupendorus saw as he looked up, nodded and the floor beneath the platform, as if by telepathic order, opened up into a large tunnel with lights along the sides and going down several tens of feet and the platform hovered down into it. The floor then closed over the hole. Truth then turned to the Brute standing guard bat the entrance.

"Leave us," he said, to which the Brute nodded and the door opened and he walked out of the hall, the door closing behind him.

"Rise," Truth said to Jupendorus, who obeyed. "Now Jupendorus," Truth began. "What I have planned has taken several years of caution and excellency, all based on two races within this Covenant. One I can trust and the other I despise,"

Jupendorus nodded in understanding and Truth half turned away from him, rubbing the bony fingers of one of his hands over his beard lumps hanging from his chin.

"Tartarus and the Arbiter, along with the Oracle, have gone to the Sacred Ring to retrieve the Sacred Icon," Truth continued. "However, the Arbiter has been chosen specially for this because, as you may already know, of his heretic punishment and the only way to redeem himself is through death,"

Again, Jupendorus nodded. "May I ask: where exactly is this going, my prophet?"

Truth turned his chair to face him again. "This is going to a new phase of our history," he said. "And the reason I have called you here is for you to be the start of my plan. The councillor Elites with several fleet masters and zealots have gathered at the Mausoleum of the Arbiter. Go to the Elites and tell them to group at the Elite Councillor Chamber. Tell them it is an order by the prophet Truth and they are to wait as I will come to discuss negotiations with them on hoping that they will stay in the council," Jupendorus nodded again. "Report back to me when you are finished," Truth added. "I shall have more orders for you then,"

Jupendorus nodded and bowed. "As you wish, my prophet," he said and with that, he turned and walked back towards the council hall entrance. Truth watched him go with enviousness in his eyes.

_He will be the start of a new age in the Covenant _he mentally said to himself. 


	63. A shocking discovery

**Thirty minutes later**

**Location: Central gathering room, council hall tower**

The central gathering room of the council hall tower was a large circular shaped room with violet coloured walls, a silver floor and ceiling and a row of seats going along almost the entire side of the walls, stopping only at the north end where a large diamond shape door was located. Standing in front of it, dressed in honour guard armour and armed with pikes, were two Brutes. Scattered around the room in groups were councillor Elites, talking amongst themselves of what had happened today. As with all the Elites, the loss of their place in protecting the prophets was a major religious and honourable blow to them, especially to the Elite councillors. They had been threatening to leave the Covenant council, which would affect the Covenant military quite badly for they would lose vital soldiers and experienced fleet commanders. Truth, however, did not seem affected by this threat, which had made several of the Elites and even Mercy suspicious but they did not question why.

"So what are we to do now?" one of the councillor Elites, who was part of a group of five councillors, placed near the door, two of them standing on the bottom seats, asked.

"We shall prepare a meeting in the council hall tomorrow," one of the other councillor Elites replied. "There, we shall have a vote on whether we are to stay in the council or leave,"

"Is that a wise decision?" another councillor asked.

The councillor Elite who had talked about the vote turned his head to look at the Elite standing next to him. "It is our only way to respond to this," he said in a slightly stern manner.

The Elite looked down at the floor, obviously admitting, though not verbally, that his comrade was correct. This _was_ their only response to the prophet's decision. Maybe by holding a vote tomorrow they could come to a decision of their won whether they were to stay in the council or not.

As the Elite looked up, he looked around the room for someone else. His eyes searched the entire room and the faces of everyone in the room but he could not find.

"Do you know where Tsu' Zhanmee is?" he asked his councillor comrades, who shook their heads.

Just then, the door to the room opened, revealing a long purple coloured corridor, and another Brute walked in. It was Jupendorus. A few heads turned in his direction and as he looked around he received a few glares from the Elites. He ignored them and stopped in the middle of the room.

"Attention!" he barked out loudly and the Elites turned to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" one demanded. "Why are you shouting out in here?"

"I have an order from the prophet," Jupendorus replied. "He wishes for you all to go back to the Elite councillor temple where he intends to meet you all later on to discuss an alternative way around the current crisis facing us,"

Muttering immediately broke out amongst the Elites, no doubt that they were unhappy with an order from the prophet and would be reluctant to see him, especially after what he had done to them earlier on. Some, however, were already beginning to walk towards the door, though they were still muttering amongst themselves about this order from the prophet. Jupendorus watched them go, some glaring at him as they passed him. He ignored them and watched as, one-by-one, the Elites filled out of the room.

"You best not be fooling with us, Brute!" a deep voice growled and Jupendorus turned to see a councillor Elite from a group that had been near the door walk over to him, stopping a few feet from him. This was the Elite that had been talking to his fellow councillors about the vote they were to hold tomorrow over whether they should stay or not.

"To be honest, I wish I was," Jupendorus replied. The Elites' eyes narrowed and he stepped towards him.

"You know what I can do to you if you are lying to us," he whispered to him dangerously.

Jupendorus narrowed his eyes as he looked into the Elites', determined not to be easily intimidated. "Well whatever it is, I know it will not happen to me," he replied.

The Elite glared at him for a moment before moving back and giving a humph before turning and walking towards the door to join the flow out of the room. The rest of the group of Elites also shot a few glares at Jupendorus as they followed their comrade. Jupendorus just humphed.

_Pathetic beings! _He thought. _Thank the prophets they are no longer part of the main leading army_

**Meanwhile, in a secret room a few hundred feet above. **

In a large dome shaped room with a door on It's right wall was a large platform with a dark purple colour on It's side, a ring-like border around the top of the sides of the platform with a light blue virtual-like surface in the middle of the top of the platform and a holographic control panel on the end of the platform facing the door. A councillor Elite stood over it. His name was Tsu' Zhanmee. He was an Elite councillor and had been for several years and was here now to try and find out if the prophet had anything else planned. He, as all the other councillors had felt, was furious at the prophets' order to make the Brutes their protectors rather than the Elites. However, that was only the start of the humiliation. The Elite commanders leading the Covenant ships and fleets against the Humans were also replaced and there was now even a rumour that the Elites commanding the Covenant ground forces were to be replaced soon.

That thought, along with all the others that were of the humiliation endured by the day's events, made Tsu' growl to himself. His fist partially clenched, but he managed to conceal his anger and he pressed one of the buttons on the control panel. At once, the top of the platform lit up and a holographic ring of symbols appeared above it.

"Let us see what the prophet has in store for us all," Tsu' muttered to himself as his eyes scanned the symbols.

They were all a mixture of markings and writing, much like those of the ancient civilizations the Humans used to have. Tsu had been taught them and he could instantly make out what they meant as he looked at them. _History of the Covenant_, _Covenant species_, _Technology_, _Goals_, _Confidential Prophet plans_, _Arbiters…_wait a minute!

Tsu looked back at the symbol, which was four holographic horizontal rectangles with a kind of scaled tail-like form wrapped around them, and pressed a holographic space on the ring between two other symbols and moved his hand left. The symbols on the ring moved left and the symbol Tsu had his eyes on appeared right in front of him. He pressed it. The rest of the holographic ring shone brightly for a moment before fading, except for the symbol Tsu had touched. It grew slightly until it was the size of his body and broke into a kind of set of images.

Tsu gasped at seeing them.

"No!" he gasped. "No! This cannot be happening!"

The plans of the prophet… This could not be! No! Shock within Tsu, however, was quickly replaced by anger. No! He was _not_ going to let this happen! He was going to stop Truth's plan, and the best way to do so was to kill the one who had put it together. Truth himself.

Turning, he ran towards the door, which opened as he approached it, and out of the room into the corridor, towards the next event that would change the Covenant forever.


	64. New orders

**Ten minutes later**

**On a council hall balcony near the bottom of the tower**

Jupendorus stood on the small metallic platform that stuck out of the side of the tower, looking down at a large pathway that led into a large mist. Walking up the pathway was a huge line of figures, which were councillor Elites. His eyes followed them up the pathway towards the mist, which they seemed to enter and disappear into. That pathway led to the Elite councillor's temple. Truth was going to meet them there later.

"I best go back and see what my next orders will be," he muttered as he turned and walked back into the tower to walk back to the council hall.

**Meanwhile, several hundred feet above**

Sitting in his hover chair a few feet to the left of the end of the silver pathway, Truth gazed out over the city that seemed to stretch on forever below him like an emperor gazing out over his empire. His eyes rested on the enormous chrome pyramid-like structure in the middle of the city as if he was awe inspired by it, but his eyes held no awe or admiration. They were emotionless, empty even of anything. The reason: he knew truly what the structure was. It was a ship. A ship from their gods, the Forerunners. Powerful and fast, it was his personal ship.

Truth ran a hand over his beard lumps hanging down from his chin.

"Only a few moments to go," he said to himself. "And the new age of the Covenant will begin,"

His plan had been put down over several years, even before the war with Humanity, to replace the Elites with the Brutes as their personal bodyguards. Well, he had done that now, but what of this new age in the Covenant he was muttering to himself? Well, that was something different but still part of his plan, in fact the main part of it. Not only did Truth want to remove the Elites as their personal bodyguards, but also of the backbone of the Covenant army, and there was one way this could be carried out effectively.

"My prophet," a voice said from behind and Truth, slightly annoyed at being disturbed from his thoughts, turned to see an honour guard Brute with a Brute shot, a Brute weapon that fired grenade projectiles that exploded on impact with a target when fired, kneeling down on one knee in a kind of bow.

"What is it?" Truth asked.

"A councillor Elite wishes to see you, my prophet," the Brute replied.

Upon hearing this, Truths' eyes went wide with disbelief and anger. What! Why was there a councillor Elite here that wanted to see him? He thought he had ordered Jupendorus to order them all to go to the temple. Why was there one still here?

Truth took a quiet deep breath to calm himself down and nodded at the Brute. "Very well, let him come,"

"I am already here," a voice said and Truth and the Brute looked up, the Brute looking over his shoulder from his bow and getting up immediately, to see a councillor Elite standing on the end of the silver pathway. It was Tsu Zhanmee.

"Ah, Tsu!" Truth said in a fake surprised voice that sounded happy to see him. "What is it you wish to see me about?" Truth asked the Elite.

The councillor Elite did not respond. Instead he looked down at his hand, which held an energy sword activator.

**Below the pathway**

Jupendorus walked down the pathway from the tower towards the anti-gravity lift that was at the end. The chrome pyramid-like structure soon caught his eye and he stared at it as he walked down the pathway towards the end. It was an amazing thing to see. It was a symbol of the sheer might and size of the Covenant and the technology they possessed and sent out a clear message: Do not raise your hand against the Covenant. Their present enemy, Humanity, was already learning this lesson badly. Soon they would be defeated and the Covenant could work clearly towards the Great Journey without any interference.

As Jupendorus reached the end of the pathway, he heard a noise above him. It sounded like…a shout, or a yell…or even a scream? He looked up and his eyes, suddenly, rested on a shape that appeared from the edge and was falling towards the pathway. As it came closer, his eyes grew wide with shock.

The shape was a body…of an honour guard Brute!

Jupendorus watched as the body of a fellow comrade fell down past the end of the pathway. He ran to the edge and looked down to see it get smaller and smaller until it disappeared from sight.

His eyes darted upwards. Another shout. Something was going on! He had to get up there! He stepped into the gravity lift. It immediately activated and he hovered up towards the pathway above.

**On the higher platform**

Truth lay on the floor, half of his body within his metallic seat, which was on the floor just a few feet from the edge of the pathway, a looked of panic on his face. His breathing was heavy, his eyes were as wide as dinner plates and he began to sweat. Nearby, the Brute shot of his Brute bodyguard lay on the floor.

Standing in front of him was Tsu, his energy sword pointed towards the prophet. He stepped towards Truth, who retreated back into his chair like a bear retreating back into It's cave in fear.

"You shall not endanger the Covenant, my prophet!" Tsu growled at Truth.

"You are making a grave mistake!" Truth replied, trying to put anger in his voice but the fear of a former ally in front of him with a weapon stopped it. "You shall not win!"

Tsu's eyes narrowed and he took another step towards the prophet, who backed away further into the metallic chair, only to hit the back of it and be stopped completely. Fear immediately gripped him. He was trapped!

"You are the one who has made a grave mistake!" Tsu said to the prophet. "But I have uncovered your plans to destroy us! You and your Brutes will die and the Covenant shall be saved!"

"My prophet!" a voice from behind shouted out in panic and the two looked towards the end of the pathway to see a Brute standing there. It was Jupendorus.

"Jupendorus!" Truth exclaimed. "Look at what is happening! The councillors are taking over! They wish to assassinate me!"

"Silence!" Tsu shouted at Truth, glancing back at him to glare as he shouted before he looked back Jupendorus, who was watching this with wide, shock filled eyes.

"See!" Truth continued. "He even orders me to be silent! He is a traitor to the Covenant!"

"I said: silence!" Tsu repeated, his voice rising dangerously as he looked back at Truth.

"What is going on here?" Jupendorus asked.

"The prophets have lied to us," Tsu told him. "He wants to destroy us all! He will lead us to our doom!"

"Do not listen to him, Jupendorus! He and his council want to take control! You must kill him!"

"BE QUIET!" Tsu yelled, silencing Truth. He took a deep breath and stepped closer to him. "I am going to end this once and for all!"

"You cannot!" Jupendorus piped up and Tsu and Truth turned their heads to look at him. "You cannot kill him!"

"He has control of the council and the Covenant army!" Tsu told him. "He is too dangerous to be left alive!"

"NO! He cannot die! He must not die!"

Tsu clenched his mandibles together tightly and looked down at Truth, who was staring wide-eyed at him.

"Please don't kill me!" he cried.

Tsu's grip on his energy sword tightened and, before he could stop himself, he raised his arm with the sword.

"NO!" Truth almost screamed. "Please don't!"

"NOOOO!" Jupendorus roared.

He dived to the floor, grabbed the Brute shot and fired a shot at Tsu, hitting him in the side, the grenade exploding as it hit his armour. Tsu roared in pain and staggered sideways a few feet, dropping his energy sword as he placed his hands over the wound, which was beginning to bleed purple blood. Tsu looked up at Jupendorus, though this time his eyes were filed with panic. Jupendorus stood up from the floor, his weapon aimed at the Elite, his finger twitching on the trigger. He looked from Tsu to Truth.

"Kill him, Jupendorus!" Truth ordered. "Do it!"

Tsu's eyes widened as he watched Jupendorus, waiting for him to make a decision. Jupendorus held his position, not moving for a moment as if debating what he was to do. Was he to obey his prophet and fire again, or not?

He made his mind and fired again. Tsu opened his mouth to scream but barely any sound came out before the grenade hit him like a sledgehammer. For a moment, he held his position as if frozen in time. Then, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell backwards over the edge of the pathway and out of sight.

Jupendorus slumped down onto his knees, gasping a little. Even though the Elites were his enemies…he could not believe he had killed one of them, especially a councillor.

"W-what have I done?" he muttered to himself.

A grunt drew his gaze back to Truth, who had moved himself back into his metallic chair, which hovered back up from the floor and moved over towards Jupendorus.

"You have followed the right path, Jupendorus," Truth replied. "You have followed your orders and saved your prophet from death,"

"I...it just…does not seem right," Jupendorus said. "I thought they were part of our coalition,"

Truth rested a hand on his shoulder. "When you have been alive and a leader for as long as I have, Jupendorus, you will know how sometimes those under your rule can easily turn against you,"

Truth took his hand off his shoulder and looked over at the edge of the platform where Tsu had been standing just moments earlier as if he could still see him there.

"When the Elites learn of what has transpired here, they will kill me, Mercy, and all of the Brutes, especially you," he said.

Jupendorus nodded and stood up. "I agree, my prophet," he said. "What are we to do now?" he asked.

Truth turned his head to look at him. "We must attack them, catch them off balance," he said. "I want you to go to the Elite councillor temple with the army of Brutes still here," he said. "Show no mercy to anyone there. If any of the others races, whether they are Grunts, Jackals or Hunters or Drones decide to go against you, kill them all,"

"And what if they are to join us, my prophet?" Jupendorus inquired.

"Then let them," Truth replied. "I will begin broadcasting of the Elites' betrayal to us. The rest of the Covenant will rise up against them here and they shall be dealt with swiftly,"

Truth turned his chair and hovered back over to the edge of the pathway he had been at moments earlier, gazing back out at the chrome pyramid-like structure. Jupendorus walked up next to him.

"What of the other Elites spread out across the Human system, my prophet?" he asked.

"They too will be dealt with," Truth replied. "Your leader Tartarus, as you remember, has left for the Sacred Ring with the Arbiter, who is now deemed a traitor and is to be dealt with. Whilst he is dealing with the Arbiter, our forces will begin to destroy the Elites. One-by-one, they will fall and be exterminated from the Covenant,"

Jupendorus smiled a little now. Yes! The Elites deserved no mercy, not for what they had been plotting to do against the prophet. It was time to wipe them out and save the rest of the Covenant from any further destruction by the power of the Elites.

"Now, Jupendorus," Truth said, turning to face the Brute and he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Go! Lead your forces into battle against the traitors. Save the Covenant and set the way for us to begin the Great Journey,"

Jupendorus nodded. "Yes, my prophet,"


	65. The beginning of the Great Schism

**Ten minutes later**

The Elite councillors temple was a large square shaped building about a hundred feet tall with a length of about six hundred feet and a width of about three hundred feet. On the top of the building was a large glass dome and on the front of the building were several violet coloured cylindrical pillars. A large entrance, which was more like a pass, in the front of the building behind the pillars led inside the structure and a long silver pathway led from the entrance to the temple out to a large misty cloud about five hundred feet away. Either side of the pathway were two fifty foot high statues of councillor Elites with metallic replicas of activated energy swords in their hands. All four were facing the misty cloud as if they were guards to the temple, much like the Ancient civilizations of Earth had done millennia before.

Outside the entrance to the temple, leaning against one of the statues was a councillor Elite. With him were four other Elites comprising of another councillor, a major and two zealots. They were waiting impatiently for their leader, Truth, to appear and had been for the last twenty or so minutes.

"This is getting ridiculous!" the major Elite growled impatiently as he looked at the misty cloud as if trying to find Truth. "The prophet said he would be here and we have been waiting for ages!"

"We shall wait a little while longer," the councillor leaning against the statue replied. "If he is not here within the next few minutes, then we shall go and bring the councillors back to the council hall building,"

"What if the prophet does not want us to leave?" one of the zealots asked.

"Then he should have arrived here to tell us that!" the councillor replied sternly.

Amazing, however, he did not receive a glare or a shocked look from his comrades, which he would normally receive if he had said anything like that before. To be honest, they were actually thinking the same thing. What had happened earlier today was still eating away at them and they were not willing to talk with their prophet after what he had done to them. Why should they? They had been in the most honourable position they could be in the Covenant and now they have lost it! Vadumee was reported to have come close to killing the demon but his phantoms had been withdrawn before they could stop her under orders of Truth, so it was basically his fault that a fellow prophet was dead and that the Elites had lost a very honourable position in the Covenant.

As the major Elite grunted and fiddled about with a piece of his armour on his arm, a sudden noise caught his attention. He looked up towards the mist for a moment. What was it? He could have sworn it came from over there. After a moment, he shrugged it off and took off the piece of armour on his arm and then placed it back down, though pushing it a little more tightly to try and make it s-

Wait! The major Elite looked up at the mist once again. The noise! There is was again, only it sounded closer. What was it? The major Elite 'hmmed' in thought, but also a slight sense of fear as well. This noise had to be something big and loud for him to hear it from the mist.

"What is it?" he muttered under his breath as his eyes scanned every part of the mist to try and find the source of the noise he was hearing.

Then, his eyes rested on something coming out of the mist onto the pathway. He squinted slightly to try and get a better look at it and saw it was moving towards the temple, and becoming clearer. It was a figure, but who was it?

However, the major Elites' eyes quickly went wide when he saw a line of figures materialize out of the mist behind the figure, marching in a completely straight line no more than six or so feet behind the first figure. Then, another line came out after that one, followed by another, and another, and another! Soon there were twenty lines of figures, numbering about ten in each line, walking towards the temple, following the first figure. The lines of figures behind the first were much closer together though, spaced only about a foot or two from each other like…like they were in a battle formation. Fear began to grip the Elite. What was going on?

Behind him, he heard the conversation of his comrades quickly wine down and he looked over his shoulder to see them looking at the mist, their eyes filled with confusion and fear.

"What is going on?" one of the zealots asked.

"I do not know," the councillor, who had been leaning against the statue, replied.

The major Elite looked back at the figures, and his eyes went wider, making them look as if they were about to pop right out of their sockets, to see another formation of figures, with about twenty lines with ten figures in each, marching behind the first. Then, a third formation came out, followed by a fourth and a fifth. It was like they were a never ending army.

"What is going on?" one of the zealots demanded.

"Who are they?" the other also demanded.

One of the councillor Elites replied by walking forward away from the group down the pathway towards the figures, which the leading one was only about one hundred feet away and getting closer. The councillor's eyes went wide. It was a Brute, and behind him all the other figures were Brutes as well!

The councillor Elite narrowed his eyes at the Brutes as they approached. What were they doing here? They had no right to be here! He wanted to know what was going on. He stepped towards the approaching leading Brute.

"What is this?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"

As if responding to his words, the leading Brute stopped abruptly and held his arm with a closed fist, signalling the other Brutes to halt as well, which they did. Behind him, the line of Brute formations seemed to stretch on forever into the mist. No reply came from the leading Brute, which only angered the councillor even more.

"I said: what is going on?" he demanded, fury rising in his voice. "Answer me, now!"

The leading Brute looked at him and chuckled slightly. The councillor's eyes went wide! It was the Brute that he had threatened earlier on. It was Jupendorus.

He turned his head half-way and barked a command. Immediately, the four middle Brutes standing in the first line behind him walked out of the formation and stopped next to the leading Brute, two Brutes on either side of him. It was then the councillor noticed shapes on the belts around the waists of the Brutes. They were… Weapons!

His eyes went wide and he opened his mouth to roar, also going to grab his own weapon at the same time, but before his hand had so much touched his plasma rifle, which was clipped to the side of his armour around the bottom of his torso, the four Brutes grabbed their weapons, all of which were Brute plasma rifles, raised them and fired a barrage of red blasts at the councillor. The barrage quickly and easily penetrated the shield of his armour and slammed into his skin. Blood flowed; pieces of armour were broken off and charred by the blasts hitting them. One even almost knocked the helmet of the councillor. Finally, after a moment of continuous blast fire, the Brutes stopped firing and the councillor fell backwards onto the ground, all life gone from his body.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" the other councillor roared as he and his comrades grabbed their weapons to retaliate. "TRAITORS! YOU SHALL ALL PAY FOR THIS!"

Jupendorus only laughed, which made the Elites stop and stare at him.

"Kill them!" he ordered and the four Brutes standing next to him fired a barrage of red blasts at the Elites, hitting and killing them, though one of the zealots managed to fire a few blasts from his plasma rifle at the Brutes, hitting one of them in the arm but it did little damage.

"Excellent work," he said.

"Will there be many of them in the temple, sir?" one of the Brutes asked.

"Yes, but we have two things they do not," he replied. "Numbers and the element of surprise,"

Jupendorus barked another command and the four Brutes stepped back into the line behind him.

"Onward!" and he marched on further down the pathway, the chorus of marching feet filling his ears as the Brutes followed him.

The new age of the Covenant had begun. It was the start of the Great Schism.

**Meanwhile, on Io**

As Truth had promised Jupendorus, the rest of the Elites would also be taken care of. To do so, the Brutes that had been sent to the Human home system several days earlier, and had been split up to be sent to other planets to aid in defeating the Humans there, would prepare to turn on their former Covenant brothers, trying to also stir up hatred against the Elites within the other Covenant soldiers.

In the remains of a UNSC army base under attack, a force of about five Covenant Grunts, six Jackals, four Brutes and four Elites, who were leading the squad ran through what had been the command centre building. About fifty feet ahead of them was a small blockade of passenger warthogs which were manned by a squad of about ten UNSC soldiers.

One of the Elites, a minor, stopped on the edge of the remains of the building. "We must attack them on two sides if we are to destroy them!" he said. 

"Separate into three groups," another of the Elites, a major, said.

Behind the Elites, one of the Brutes picked up a small circular device from the strap on his back and looked at it. The device glowed a light blue colour with an aura coming out of it. He placed it back on his strap and nodded to the other four Brutes. The four raised their weapons. Two of which were Brute shots and the other two were Brute plasma pistols, at the Elites and the Brute with the circular device nodded at one of the Jackals, who, along with the other Jackals, also raised their plasma pistols at the Elites.

One of the Grunts, who had all been gathered around the Elites, turned and gasped at what he saw.

"What are you gasping about?" one of the minor Elites growled as he turned to look at the Grunt, only to go wide-eyed upon seeing the Brutes and the Jackals aiming their weapons at them. He opened his mouth to shout but the trigger fingers of the Brutes and the Jackals were faster. A barrage of light red and light green blasts flew out at the Elites and the Grunts. The screams and roars of Covenant soldiers filled the air and all of the Elites and Grunts fell to the ground, dead.

The Great schism was happening everywhere.

**New Mombassa, Kenya, Earth **

In the war torn streets of downtown New Mombassa, a Covenant wraith, being piloted by a Brute, moved down the street a few metres behind a Covenant spectre, which was being piloted by Elites. Alongside the spectre, on both sides, were two ghosts, being piloted by Elites as well. On foot walking down the street were several more Jackals, Grunts, and Brutes. All around them, the noise of battle filled their ears. Scattered around on the street, mixed in the rubble from the surrounding buildings, were the remains of Covenant and UNSC vehicles, both air and ground with the bodies of whoever had been piloting or near them lying alongside the remains.

As the force moved down the street, a Brute next the wraith pounded the side of the vehicle with his fist a few times, trying to do it quietly so as not to attract the attention of the Elites. He then looked at his comrades around him, comprising of Brutes, Jackals and a few Grunts and nodded which they replied with in return and halted where they were.

Suddenly, a mortar blast shot out of the wraith and slammed into the spectre. An explosion lit up the street as the vehicle exploded into smithereens, killing all of the Elites. One of the ghosts to the left of spectre flew into the air and crashed into the ground, killing the Elite piloting it. The other three ghosts shot round, as did the Elites and most of the Grunts who were around them, only to be met with another mortar blast from the wraith, which blew apart another of the ghosts on the right of the remains of the spectre, destroying it completely along with the Elite piloting it. Almost instantly afterwards, the Brutes, Jackals and the Grunts around the Brutes fired a barrage of blasts and needler projectiles at the Elites and the Grunts around them. Many of the Elites fell to the ground, riddled with blast marks and needler projectiles. Some, however, were luckier and managed to return fire. Several Jackals and Grunts fell, along with one of the Brutes, but their enemy's overwhelming firepower and element of surprise cut through them, killing all of the Elites and the grunts around them.

**Apollo colony sector, Mars**

The many destroyed buildings and Human vehicles; both UNSC and civilian littered the ground of the town. Many buildings were burning or were now piles of ruins. The bodies of several UNSC and Covenant soldiers were scattered across the ground.

An Elite zealot walked over the body of a Grunt, an energy sword in his hand. Behind him were three Brutes, who were armed with Brute shots. They were planning on clearing out any Humans left here as their main army marched onward a few hundred feet ahead.

As the zealot walked towards one of the nearby houses, which was just a few standing walls managing to hold up what was left of the ceiling, the Brutes suddenly stopped. The zealot quickly noticed they were not following him and shot round. Pain gripped him as grenade projectiles flew out at him and exploded on his armour, throwing him backwards onto the ground, all life gone from his body.

**Main hall, Elite councillors temple**

The main hall of the councillors temple wasa large rectangular shaped room with a kind of stage along the back wall. It was about two hundred feet long and half as wide. The walls were coloured violet, along with the floor and ceiling and there were three entrances to the room, one on the right wall, another on the left and the last on the front wall directly opposite the podium in the middle of the stage. Just days before, this main hall had been a gathering place for the entire council of Elites to decide on decisions and to deal with trouble. Now, however, this hall was now the sight for spilled blood. The blood of the Elites.

"KILL THEM ALL!"

Jupendorus and his Brutes had charged into the main hall after clearing the entrances and meditation shrine rooms and had killed many of the councillor Elites, along with many zealots and a few stealth and shipmasters, who had gathered in large numbers after expecting to meet the prophet Truth. They were slaughtered without mercy.

Scattered over the floor were the bodies of fallen Elites and Brutes, though mostly Elites. Jupendorus, who was standing on the stage, gazed out over the room which was now covered in blood and the bodies of fallen Covenant soldiers. There were about fifty other Brutes in the room, checking the bodies of their comrades and the Elites to see if they were alive.

"We have taken most of the temple, sire," a Brute said, walking up to the stage.

"Good," Jupendorus replied. "Where have the last of the Elites fled to?" he asked.

"To the roof and the planning rooms," the Brute replied.

Jupendorus nodded and growled in satisfaction as he looked up at the ceiling. Far above them was the enormous glass dome and he looked through it at the large clouds high above the temple. They were winning. This uprising was on the verge of destruction. Soon it would be over and the Elites would be finished.

After a moment, Jupendorus stepped down from the stage and walked towards the right wall entrance. Two Brutes followed him to keep guard as their leader went to crush the last of the Elites holding out.

For the Elites, it was the end of the road for them.


	66. The new Covenant

**Two hours later**

_**High Charity **_

Over the past hour, the Great Schism had taken a great hold on _High Charity_. Hundreds of Elites, Grunts and several Hunters had been killed by the Brutes and the Jackals, who now had the support of the Drones and many Grunts and most of the Hunters, though the last two races were being held on the Brute side out of fear rather than hatred. The same process was still being repeated outside _High Charity _with the Brute and Elite ships engaging each other outside the city. It had also been confirmed that Tartarus had returned with the Sacred Icon and had dealt with the Arbiter and the demon. When news of the death of the demon came to _High Charity_, those that were fighting with the prophets felt like it was the dawning of a new age. They were ecstatic and with the Sacred Icon, they could no follow their prophets as they set them on the path of the Great Journey.

However, about an hour ago, the Covenant was shaken to It's core by a sudden turn of events. As the prophet Truth, with Mercy alongside him, was giving a speech on their next phase of completing the Great Journey, the demon suddenly appeared in the council hall where they were. Then, another threat came into _High Charity_. That threat was the parasite, or what was known as, the Flood, a parasitic alien race that fed and grew on sentient life. As soon as it landed on a planet, it was almost impossible to get rid of them, and now that they have landed here on _High Charity, _there was no doubt the city would fall to them and the prophets were quick to leave before they were infected and overwhelmed by the Flood.

On one of the many platforms scattered around one of the towers that ran around the edge of the city, there were three parked phantoms on the side with their sides opened up. Hovering in the middle of the platform were the prophets, Truth holding the icon in his hand and gazing at it as if it were prize possession of his. A pathway, which went up at a slight angle, led to a long pathway that came out of an entrance of the tower. Further down on the next tower, a few hundred feet away, was a large human ship that had crashed into the side of the tower. Large tentacles had wrapped themselves around the ship. They were the sign that the Flood was on the ship and they had used it to arrive from the ring to the city.

Mercy looked worryingly at the Human ship.

"Oh, I wish Tartarus would hurry," he said in a worried tone. "The parasite is most probably on It's way here,"

"Calm down, brother," Truth replied, silencing Mercy. "Tartarus is coming."

Truth looked down at his hand. Resting in the palm was the Index. Truth smiled to himself.

_Now we can begin the Great Journey and be rid of the Human filth! _He thought.

Just then, the door that led out onto the main pathway that came out of the tower opened and Tartarus walked out, holding his deadly Fist of Rukt in his hand. Behind him were three other Brutes with a Human in front of them and they were pushing them down after Tartarus as he led them onto the pathway that led to the platform. Two of the Humans were UNSC forces, a woman, a ship commander, called Mary, and a Human sergeant called John. The oracle was being led down towards the prophets by Jupendorus, who had been congratulated by Truth, several minutes before his speech in the council hall, for his and his men's excellent work in defeating the councillor Elites and those who supported them. The Elite councillor temple had been set on fire in the attack and all of the Elites within It's walls were killed by the Brutes. Whilst the attack had been launched, Truth had broadcast to the Covenant across _High Charity_ to rise up against the Elites, claiming that they had tried to assassinate him, and ordered that any Covenant who decided to side with the Elites to be classed as heretics and traitors to the prophets and the Covenant and were to be killed without hesitation, an order which was carried out ruthlessly by the Brutes.

As Jupendorus walked down the pathway with the Oracle in front of him, he saw the Oracle turn his head to look at the ship in the side of the tower and say something in a shocked manner. Jupendorus growled at the oracle, his anger now boiling with hatred against him for Tartarus had told him that the Oracle had tried to help the Arbiter and the demon.

"Keep moving!" he growled at the Oracle, giving a hard push that almost knocked Wally over.

They walked onward onto the platform. When they reached it, Tartarus looked over his shoulder at them.

"Split them up," he ordered. "One in each phantom,"

Jupendorus and his two comrades holding the other two Humans nodded and began pushing their captives towards the waiting phantoms. Jupendorus began pushing the Oracle over towards the phantom on the left end of the platform, but as they moved towards it, he looked over at the Human ship in the side of the tower. As with the Oracle moments earlier, fear and concern began to grip him. That was the ship the parasite had used and there was no doubt they were spreading across the city right now, killing and growing in number like an infection. Even though he respected the prophets and their decisions, he mentally wished they would hurry and board the platforms so they could leave.

When he and the Oracle reached the phantom, he pushed him inside. Behind him, as he climbed into the ship, he heard Truth talking to Tartarus. Tartarus replied.

_HIIIIISSSSSS_

Jupendorus shot round to see a group of about five infection form parasite creatures appear up from underneath the platform and move across the platform toward the prophets. The Brute holding the Human called Mary barked at another in the middle phantom to keep hold of her and he ran over to Tartarus' side, who, along with the other Brute, formed a shield between the parasite and the prophets. Jupendorus felt the urge to run out and join them, but the Oracle had to be kept an eye on as the only other Brutes in the phantom was the pilot and a guard and the Oracle could try and escape and rescue his two comrade Humans. He sighed angrily and stood back and watched as Tartarus and the other Brute fought with the infection forms killing them.

Then, his eyes grew wide when he saw one of the infection forms jump over Tartarus, who made a vain attempt to grab it, and attack Mercy, attaching itself to his neck and began eating away at it. Mercy screamed in pain and tried to get the infection form off him but it was useless. Jupendorus wanted to go and help him and sighed a little in relief when he saw Tartarus step towards him.

"Let him be," Truth said, stopping Tartarus in his tracks, made Jupendorus' eyes go wide with shock. "The Great Journey waits for no one, brother," he said. "Not even you,"

Truth then turned and hovered over to the middle phantom. Jupendorus watched him go, his eyes as wide as dinner plates and completely speechless. Why had Truth stopped Tartarus from helping Mercy? He was a prophet as well! This was not right. He looked at Mercy, who was gasping for breath. Tartarus stood over him, looking from him to the Sacred Icon in his hand as if deciding what he was to do.

Finally, after a few moments, Tartarus turned and walked towards the middle phantom. Jupendorus watched all of this silently. He could not believe the events that had transpired in front of him were being allowed to happen. He looked at the middle platform and watched Truth board it with Tartarus following close behind. He wanted to go and ask him why he had allowed Mercy to be attacked, but that would be certain suicide as he would be questioning the order of the prophet, despite being labelled a hero of the Covenant, and he did not want to be a heretic and killed. He wanted to be loyal to the Great Journey, but…did Mercy have to be left behind for that to happen?

"Jupendorus!" the Brute pilot's voice barked from the cog pit. "Come, we are to leave,"

Jupendorus nodded and took one more look at Mercy and sighed and stepped into the phantom. The side closed up over him, which was much like him finally closing his old support to the Covenant and opening it to the new Covenant that awaited, or the new Covenant that he had created.


	67. The new chieftain

**One day later**

**Date: April 21****st****, 2552**

For Humanity, it looked like it was well, and truly the end for them, Earth and all of the Human colonies. The Covenant, several days earlier, had found their way here when the prophet of Regret had tuned up on Earth's doorstep, though the UNSC had been expecting an attack after a CCS battle cruiser had accidentally slip space ruptured into the solar system near Earth and then left quickly to report the Human presence there. After two days, Regret left Earth and most of his ships were destroyed. It looked like a victory for Humanity was at hand.

However, that was until yesterday when Truth arrived at Earth in the enormous chrome pyramid-like structure that was actually a ship of their gods, the Forerunners. With him came the remnants of the planned 500 strong Covenant ship fleet, now numbering around half as much as most of the Brute fleet had been caught in the battle above _High Charity_ with the Elite ships. Still though, it was a more then effective force. The Covenant ships quickly attacked all of the Human colonies and Earth, quickly destroying much of the Human presence of many of the words in Humanity's home system. Truth had hoped to go to ground as quickly as possible, but was prevented from doing so because of the strong Human presence in and around New Mombassa, which he had ordered to be glassed and then to dig up the lake New Mombassa bordered on, also glassing the water to evaporate it, to uncover a 'artifact he said was on Earth. Exactly what it was, most of the Covenant did not know but they did not question the order of their prophet and obeyed without hesitation. Earlier this morning, the city of New Mombassa was reported destroyed and the lake was almost completely empty. Truth was glad to hear this and immediately ordered all effort on Earth to go directly to East Africa to dig up the lake and uncover the 'artifact' as quickly as possible.

**On board the Forerunner ship**

The bridge of Truth's ship was a large square shaped room with magenta coloured walls and ceiling. The floor was silver coloured. Along the front wall of the bridge was a set of control panels that pinpointed the locations of the previous landing zones made by Regret's fleet. Several Brutes were working on them. Along the right side wall was a large window that gave a clear view of Earth and several Covenant assault carriers and CCS battle cruisers. On the back wall was nothing except for a small door that led into a corridor. On the left wall of the bridge was another line of control panels with another set of Brutes on them. In the middle of the bridge was a small gravity lift that led up to a large circular platform hovering about twenty feet above the floor.

On the platform, Truth sat in his hover chair, gazing at a slowly spinning holographic form of Earth above a pedestal. He reached out and touched the East Africa region where New Mombassa was located with his long and bony finger. He was feeling impatient at the moment for he wanted hid forces to hurry and dig up the 'artifact'. Although he looked confident in this attack on Earth, he was actually panic–stricken and fearful. The reason: he had heard that Tartarus, the chieftain of the Brutes who he had sent to Delta Halo to activate it, had been killed by the Arbiter, who he had presumed dead, as did everyone else in the Covenant. He knew very well that the Arbiter would have been supported by fellow Elites in order to kill Tartarus, which made truth think that a portion of the Elite fleet had survived the battle above _High Charity_ and could be gathering survivors to attack him and his forces.

_This must be completed within the next few days _he mentally said to himself. _Or I and the Great Journey will fall_

"My prophet," a voice said from behind him and he turned his chair around to see a familiar face standing in the middle of the platform. It was Jupendorus He smiled.

"Ah, Jupendorus," he said.

"You sent for me, my prophet," Jupendorus said to which Truth nodded in reply and moved his chair forward towards him. 

"You are correct, Jupendorus," he said, stopping his chair in front of him. "The reason I have called for you is because I have a new position for you,"

Jupendorus nodded. "And what is this new position, if I may ask, my prophet?" he asked.

"Your chieftain Tartarus has been killed," Truth explained. "He was a worthy and loyal chieftain of your kind in the Covenant, just like you are. As you have helped me eradicate the heretics and traitors and obeyed all my orders without hesitation and are a strong and worthy leader of your race, I hereby present you with the title of Chieftain of the Brutes,"

Jupendorus' eyes went wide as soon as Truth stopped speaking. He tried to reply but the words got lost in his mouth. H-he could not believe it! Chieftain of the Brutes! This…this was shocking for him,… But also amazing! This was…probably the best thing that has ever happened to him ever since he joined the Covenant.

"T-thank you,… My prophet!" he gasped, kneeling down in front of Truth in a loyal bow. "Thank you!" he said again.

"Thank yourself, Jupendorus," Truth replied. "You have earned the reward through your loyalty and belief to the Covenant. You deserve it. And you also need new armour," 

As soon as Truth stopped speaking, a small hole, about two feet wider and long, opened up in the floor of the platform next to Jupendorus and a set of armour rose up through the hole in an anti-gravity lift. The armour consisted of a large dark red helmet, which looked like a kind of small tower with a flat top and spikes coming out of the sides of it, a chest piece that was quite heavy, meaning it was thick, stomach and back pieces, which were also dark red and heavy, dark red armour pieces for the knees and arms and small dark red hand pieces, which were sharp and had tiny spikes at the ends near the knuckles, resembling the hand pieces of armour that the Elites wore.

"Put it on," Truth ordered.

Jupendorus obeyed and began putting the armour on himself piece by piece. First the knees, then the arms, then the back and stomach pieces of armour, then the chest and then, finally, the helmet. Truth smiled at him. He truly resembled a warrior and a worthy leader.

"And, finally, a new weapon," Truth added.

Then, another object rose up through the open hole in the platform next to Jupendorus. It was a long object metal object with a large sharp metal piece near the top of the right side of the object and a small rectangular block attached to the left side of the metal block. There were many lights and small bulges along both sides of the object. It was much like Tartarus' Fist of Rukt, only much smaller.

The weapon hovered towards Jupendorus, who raised his arm and opened his hand and took the object round the centre of the long stick section and gazed at it as if he were a warrior receiving a new and powerful sword.

"It is a gravity hammer," Truth told him. "Much like your leader Tartarus', only much smaller. We are giving many of these to other Brute captains as we speak,"

Jupendorus smiled and looked up at the prophet and bowed once again, resting the bottom of the gravity hammer on the floor of the platform.

"Thank you, my prophet," he said. "I promise to serve you until my death,"

"Good, Jupendorus," Truth replied. "Now, go and lead your troops to victory on the surface below. Report back to my ship tomorrow and tell me the situation,"

Jupendorus nodded. "Yes, my prophet," he said and he stood up and stepped into an anti-gravity lift on the edge of the platform. He hovered down to the floor and walked over to the entrance door to the bridge.

He could not believe it. In just a few days, he had gone from being a normal Brute to a leader of a Brute army and now he was the leader of the entire Brute race in the Covenant. Truth was a noble and kind prophet, and he would live by his promise to serve and protect him whilst the Covenant continued the Great Journey.

This was the start of a new chapter in Jupendorus' life and, as he walked out of the bridge into the corridor that led to the bridge, he thought to himself that he was determined to make it the best in his entire life and the best out of all the Brutes within the Covenant, one that would be remembered for generations to come.


	68. The end of a loyal fighter

**The next day**

**Location: 1,000 miles above Earth**

In the bridge of Truth's ship, Truth sat in his hover chair on the platform again, gazing at the holographic form of Earth that hovered above the pedestal once again. He reached out a long bony finger and touched the East Africa area of Earth again, making the image of Earth change into a view of East Africa. A country lit up a bright red colour, one the Humans called Kenya. It then zoomed in on Kenya towards a large area which had a huge cloud of smoke over it. That was where New Mombassa was and the lake it was next to was completely dry. Then, the image changed again into a view of an enormous desert expanse with the ruins of New Mombassa far off in the background.

"Is the artifact almost uncovered?" Truth asked the Brute standing next to him.

It was Jupendorus. "Yes, holy one," he replied.

Jupendorus had overseen the destruction of the lake and the towns surrounding the lake yesterday. Then, the digging and glassing of the earth at the bottom of the lake commenced and they were quickly forcing their way down until they finally came across a huge metallic surface that seemed to stretch on for tens of miles in all directions. They had almost uncovered it, just less than three quarters of the way to completion. He smiled at the image of the desert expanse. They were finally on the way to completing the Great Journey. The only problems, though they were not major or even likely to be major, were the constant Human attacks on the Covenant forces that were defending this enormous pit out of the lake they had destroyed, but Jupendorus' forces were strong enough and were repelling the attacks, and by the time the Humans would make a breakthrough it would be too late to stop the Great Journey.

"The artifact has only a few more hours of digging left," he continued. "Soon, it shall be fully uncovered,"

"Good," Truth said as he stroked his hanging pieces of skin on his chin. "Soon we shall begin the Great Journey. Prepare the ship to descend to the surface,"

Jupendorus nodded and barked a command down at the Brutes working below and looked up at the image of Earth. A sense of gratitude filled him like water filling up a tank. He had helped Truth come this far, he had defeated the Elite councillors and now they were almost at their goal of completing the Great Journey.

_Finally! _He thought. _We shall become Gods._

**Meanwhile, two corridors away from the bridge.**

However, unbeknownst to Jupendorus or Truth or even most of the crew, there was something, or more correctly someone, that had different plans for their Great Journey.

In the main corridor, a woman ran out into the corridor from a small room that was on the right wall of a smaller corridor that came off from the main corridor. She had shoulder length silver hair, blue eyes, soft cheeks and a small nose. She was wearing a white bodysuit with flat soled white boots that looked to be part of the suit. It was Eve, the last member of the UNSC special taskforce that had been formed to take on the Covenant and the one responsible for the destruction of the first Halo, the death of Regret and for breaking into _High Charity _and almost killing Truth and Mercy.

Eve ran down the corridor to the end and then turned right into the next longer corridor, heading straight for the door that led into the bridge. It beeped loudly and opened as she approached it, revealing the large room to her. She gazed around it and then up at the platform, where she could just make out the top of a hover chair. Truth! Anger filled her and she ran towards the anti-gravity lift, determined to kill Truth.

**On the platform**

"My prophet, I wish to ask you something," Jupendorus said to Truth.

"What is it?" Truth asked, not taking his eyes off the holographic image of the desert expanse in front of them.

"Why did you allow Mercy to be killed, my prophet?" he asked.

"The Great Journey does not wait for anyone when it is nearing completion," Truth answered. He looked over his shoulder at Jupendorus. "You are a good soldier and leader, as was your chieftain, Tartarus, but I will leave you behind to complete the Great Jour-"

"THE DEMON IS HERE!" one of the Brutes down below shouted all of a sudden.

Jupendorus and Truth shot round to see a woman hover up onto the platform. A mixture of shock and anger filled them when they saw her. It was her. It was the demon!

"You!" Truth hissed. "You will regret stowing away on my ship, demon!"

"And you'll regret attacking Earth, Truth!" Eve replied.

She went to step towards him, but Jupendorus stepped in front of Truth. His loyalty and bodyguard stance to his leader kicked in and he took out his gravity hammer from the attachment on his back armour.

"Prepare to feel the wrath of my gravity hammer!" the Brute growled and, before Eve could even blink, he swung it at her, throwing her into the air. She landed a few feet away near the side of the platform on her arm. As she got up, groaning with pain, Jupendorus ran towards her and swung his gravity hammer at her, only she managed to dive out of the way this time.

Suddenly, before Jupendorus could attack her again, Eve swung her energy sword at him, cutting through his back armour and hitting the flesh of his body. Purple blood flowed. Jupendorus roared in pain and threw his gravity hammer to the edge of the platform, the sharp metal piece got stuck into the side of the platform. He then placed a hand on his back to stop the flow of blood, which did not work.

"YOU IMBECILE!" Truth yelled at him. "YOU CANNOT EVEN KILL A SIMPLE HUMAN!"

Determination filled Jupendorus when he heard these words from his holy leader. He wanted to prove that he could kill this Human, especially her as she was the demon. He wanted to avenge all she had done to the Covenant and all they had been working for, and nothing was going to stop him!

Jupendorus tried to turn to charge towards Eve but he stumbled backwards and fell over the edge of the platform. Jupendorus grabbed the gravity hammer, gripping it tightly in panic, but his extra weight, added to the weight of the rest of the weapon, was too much for the metal piece. It began to shake a slightly. Then…

SNAP! Jupendorus roared in terror as he fell towards the floor of the bridge. He waved his arms around in the air as if to try and stop himself from falling, but it was no use. He slammed into the floor and was killed instantly, though he left one thing behind in the Covenant: his actions against the Elites and his service and loyalty to the prophets and the Great Journey.

Those actions in his life would forever stay with him and the Covenant, a lasting example to all of his troops.


End file.
